Students to Design Games with CryENGINE®3 Technology from Crytek

Dubai, May 23, 2010. The American University in Dubai (AUD) signed an educational licensee agreement with GmbH Crytek GmbH (Crytek) which will allow AUD to use their CryENGINE®3 technology in its game design and development courses within the Bachelor of Information Technology Program (B.I.T.).

According to Dr. Jihad Nader, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at AUD, this agreement falls under AUD's mission to achieve excellence in teaching and learning, and is a big step towards more fully integrating its IT students' educational experience and professional preparation with the rapidly evolving societal needs and changing lifestyles. Dr. Nader explains:

"Gaming has become a major factor in rebalancing people's work-vs.-leisure tradeoff around the world. More importantly, the educational potential of gaming technologies in various fields is now being exploited at an accelerating pace. We are proud to provide our students access to these technologies".

Commenting on the new agreement, Dr. Khalid Khawaja, AUD Chair of the Information Technology Department, says:

"Teaching computing principles through the design and development of games is one of the latest advancement in education and we are committed to it. Taking this the next step by graduating software engineering professionals that are versed in the gaming industry technologies is facilitated by this new relationship."

The B.I.T. Program at AUD prepares students for professional careers in the identification, design, and creation of computer technology solutions in support of government, business, and societal needs particularly within the UAE and the region. On how AUD is focused on preparing students to be innovators in their fields of study and the importance of using technologies such as CryENGINE®3, Dr. Basel Dayyani, Associate Professor of Information Technology at AUD, explains:

"One of the BIT Program's educational strategies is to teach students the art of innovation in the game industry and to take them through the process of game design from concept to final game product. Offering them first class industry products such as CryENGINE®3 from Crytek as the learning platform of choice for game design and development is crucial."  

Crytek's Director of Global Business Development CryENGINE®, Carl Jones, looks forward to the collaboration with the American University in Dubai, and acknowledges:

"It is a great honor for us to license our CryENGINE®3 technology to one of the most modern and most international universities of the world. Working with our all-in-one game development solution gives all students the very unique possibility to experience every single feature of the engine and thus learn how to build an AAA game from scratch. The use of CryENGINE®3 completes the world-class career-oriented education that the American University in Dubai is offering to their students perfectly." 

AUD decided to partner with Crytek because they are leaders in the game design and development industry solutions. The sheer power of Crytek tools is remarkable as it will allow students to design a game from concept to final product in about 14 weeks. Dr. Dayyani also remarked that one of the most powerful features of the third-generation CryENGINE® is the CryENGINE®3 LiveCreate™ feature, as it allows students to design their games while working with a single editor - The CryENGINE®3 Sandbox, but see and play the results in real-time on the PC, PlayStation® 3 and Xbox 360™ which is considered a revolutionary step in the world of Integrated Development Environments (IDE).

-Ends- 

About AUD
The American University in Dubai (AUD) is a private, non-sectarian institution of higher learning founded in 1995. It serves UAE nationals and international students who seek world-class career-oriented education. AUD, as an international institution of higher education, encourages global understanding by providing an atmosphere of cultural diversity and opportunities for an international education.

AUD is accredited by the Commission on Colleges (COC) of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award Bachelor's and Master's degrees.   

AUD is officially licensed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the United Arab Emirates. The Ministry has accredited the university's programs in Architecture, Business Administration (both undergraduate and graduate), Communication and Information Studies, Engineering, Information Technology, Visual Communication and Interior Design, in addition to a Certificate in Middle Eastern Studies program.

AUD holds an Agent's License issued by the District of Columbia Education Licensure Commission (Washington, DC, USA), and is approved to operate by the State of Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission (NPEC).

AUD has received specialized accreditation for its Bachelor's of Business Administration (B.B.A.), and Master's of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degree programs in business through the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE). The university's undergraduate concentrations in Marketing Communications and Advertising (Creative) have been accredited by the International Advertising Association (IAA) in New York.

All programs (i.e., Civil, Computer, and Electrical Engineering) of AUD's School of Engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET. The Bachelor of Information Technology (B.I.T.) program is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET.

For more information, please visit www.aud.edu.

About CryENGINE®3
CryENGINE®3 delivers basically everything developers need to create AAA games. It is the only solution that provides multi-award winning graphics, physics and AI out of the box. It also introduces CryENGINE®3 Live Create, the fastest truly cross-platform development solution available. CryENGINE®3 Live Create lets developers simultaneously create and edit game content, in real-time, on Xbox 360™, PlayStation®3 and PC from a single developer's PC.

"After the successful introduction of CryENGINE®3 at last year's GDC, we are really excited to show the latest version of our all-in-one game development solution this year in stereoscopic 3D. Over the past few years, S-3D technology has emerged as one of the key trends both in movies and games. With CryENGINE®3, developers will have the ability to create their content in 3D on all platforms. There are basically no longer any limits to a designer's creativity. CryENGINE®3 features many innovations to accelerate development, cut production costs and ensure teams are able to maximize their own creativity without delays," says Carl Jones, Director of Global Business Development CryENGINE.

CryENGINE®3 is the fastest and most robust high-end renderer in the world, with new features specifically designed for console platforms. Benchmark-setting graphical performance, near-photorealism rendering of indoor and wide-open outdoor environments as well as extraordinary real-time special effects are just some of the hallmarks of CryENGINE® technology. It was the underlying technology for Crytek's critically acclaimed games Crysis® and Crysis® Warhead, and is used today not only throughout the video game industry and but also for many serious applications in fields from architecture, training and simulation to learning and development.

About Crytek GmbH
GmbH Crytek GmbH ("Crytek") is one of the world's leading independent development studios for interactive entertainment. It is based in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) and has additional studios in Kiev (Ukraine), Budapest (Hungary), Sofia (Bulgaria), Seoul (South Korea) and Nottingham (UK). Crytek is dedicated to creating exceptionally high-quality video games for the PC and next-generation consoles, powered by their proprietary cutting-edge 3D-Game-Technology, CryENGINE®. Since its foundation in 1999, Crytek has created the multi-award winning PC titles Far Cry®, Crysis® (awarded best PC Game of E3 2007 and Best Technology at the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards) and Crysis Warhead® (awarded Best Graphics Technology at IGN Best of 2008 Awards). Crytek, Crysis, Crysis Warhead and CryENGINE are registered trademarks or trademarks of Crytek GmbH in the USA, Germany and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For more information, please contact
Ms. Rim Ibrahim
Marketing Communications Coordinator
American University in Dubai
T. +971 4 3183 139
E. ribrahim@aud.edu

© Press Release 2010