Crytek Sends Cease and Desist To A Popular Photo Mode Modder Frans Bouma2 min read

Frans Bouma just received a Cease and Desist letter from Crytek, developers of Crysis. Did he pirate their game? Or maybe he infringed on their copyright? What horrible thing did Bouma do to deserve this? Well, he modded in a photo mode so that people could take beautiful pictures and share them on social media.

Crytek apparently doesn’t want thousands of people posting screenshots of their game on social media[…]I don’t distribute any game asset; my camera tools only contain binaries compiled from my own code and not linked to any game asset. I’ve made custom photomode mods for more games than anyone else on this planet; for more games than nvidia ansel + all games with a photomode combined. I always heard enthusiastic responses from game publishers and devs because they love the free advertising. But Crytek being Crytek, they can’t help themselves and have to shoot themselves in their own feet. If I have to pull my Crytek 2/3 remastered photomode mods, which just add a photomode to these games, I will but I’ll never create a custom photomode for any crytek game ever again.

– Frans Bouma via Twitter

This is extra sad considering that the original Crysis had a dedicated modding scene around it. And at the same time hilarious because it is a simple photo mode. Take note anyone who wants to lose PR points over nothing, this is the way to achieve just that!

Speaking of PR!

Dear Frans,

I’m Adam, the PR manager at Crytek, the developer of Crysis Remastered
Trilogy.

We noticed that you have created tool mods for both Crysis 2 Remastered and
Crysis 3 Remastered. I’m afraid that we do not allow for mods of these games
under the terms of our EULA, which you can read here: www.crysis.com/eula

You will also see from our CRYENGINE website that we do not offer additional
license agreements for modding of any of the Crysis Remastered Trilogy
games: www.cryengine.com/support/view/licensing#crysis-mod-sdk-aka-
cryengine-2

Please note that as a precaution – we reserve all of our rights.

In which case, we’d formally request that you remove the mods from your
Patreon page, and anywhere else they appear for availability.

We would ask that you do so within the next seven days. After this time, I will
hand the matter to the legal department.

Many thanks,
Adam Grinsell

– The e-mail that Frans recived.

Seems like Crytek might want to reconsider who runs public relations for their company. Because sending cease and desist to creators like Frans Bouma is not the way to keep public opinion on your side Crytek!