A leak of the source code from Crytek and Ubisoft's original Far Cry title that launched the hit shooter franchise is surprising fans more than 19 years after its initial release. The game that started everything, Far Cry is still ranked as one of the best by many fans and just a prototype of what was to come by others.
Far Cry is one of the most well-known FPS franchises in the video game industry today. It doesn't quite have the consistent output of competitors like Call of Duty or Battlefield, but the focus on single-player, open-world experiences in a diverse range of action-packed environments keeps its fan base loyal and adamant to this day. The franchise has reached extreme heights in popularity with the sequels to the original, the second and third entries, in particular, being considered game-changing by fans and critics alike, but the original still has its appreciators, which has never been more apparent than with this latest surprising leak.
Far Cry communities were recently shocked by the unexpected leak of the source code from the original game. It's currently available for download on Internet Archive and already has many PC modders salivating at the possibilities. It's unknown right now exactly who uploaded the source code or why it's just hitting the internet right now more than 19 years after the game's initial PC launch in March 2004. Many fans are definitely excited about what this could mean for potential mods of the original Far Cry moving forward, though. It's unknown how long this code may remain on Internet Archive considering the site has had copyright problems in the past.
For the average player, the source of a game being made available isn't necessarily something to jump on. It can mean a lot for modders, speedrunners, and video game designers, though. All of those aforementioned groups can study the game in a way that wasn't possible before, which could lead to some pretty interesting developments in the future. It'd be interesting to see a more dedicated speedrunning group grow out of this leak, considering the original Far Cry title has fallen into relative obscurity when standing next to the massive titles that are the rest of the franchise entries. There are already thousands of mods for some of the more popular Far Cry games.
It's worth noting that this source code was released by an unknown entity and was not made publicly available by Ubisoft or Crytek. The code is still fully copyrighted and nothing can be done with it for profit. Hopefully, there will be some news at some point in the future about why this leak came when it did. Maybe this will also motivate Ubisoft and Crytek to give much-needed remakes of the original two Far Cry titles to buff out some of the dated edges.
Far Cry is available on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
Source: Internet Archive