According to the official Crysis Monthly Update over on the Crysis EA forum, Crytrek will not offer Patch 1.3 to the public. But there may be a very good reason for the decision - including shifting work to the next installment of the Crysis trilogy.

Crytek made the announcement regarding the 1.3 patch on Monday and while the developer's reasons were cryptic in nature and "profusely" apologetic, Crytek stressed that the decision to cancel the patch was extremely difficult to make, but that they are still listening to community input.

"There is a good reason for this and we hope you understand when you hear more about the reasons why in the very, very near future," wrote Alex Marschal, Crytek community manager, on Monday. "Please realize this was an extremely difficult decision, but please do know that we are listening to your comments and are making more consistent community support a high priority. We are confident that the things we are working on will be appreciated by the community, and we hope for your continued support. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us."

While many may deem this decision as the end of Crysis support, it's looking like that the upcoming "good reason" is either an expansion pack or full sequel. Visitors hitting the official Crysis Web site will see a teaser image for an unannounced project titled Crysis Warhead. The Web site features a simple teaser picture of a soldier (who looks a lot like Jake Dunn's Delta Force squad mate Psycho) and the title "Crysis Warhead."

No other details about Crysis Warhead have been released, but fans should already recognize the name: the company filed for a trademark back on March 3. But because Crytek confirmed that Crysis is part one of a trilogy, there are a few possibilities to consider: (1) a console conversion (2) an expansion pack containing all the latest updates (3) part 2 of the Crysis trilogy.

Previously the developer stated that they were moving away from the PC as an exclusive gaming platform because of piracy concerns. "We are going to support PC, but not exclusive anymore," Crytek president Cevat Yerli told PC Play in a recent interview. Yet in that same breath, Yerli said their internal focus was not linked to bring Crysis - or rather "Crysis as we have seen" has he described - to consoles. To make things even more confusing, a GDC 08 interview with Shacknews revealed that Crytek's engine business manager Harald Seeley said they were actually considering porting Crysis to the console, and that the company was currently working on "at least one other console game, as well as a non-FPS title at its Budapest office."

That being said, it's quite possible that Crysis Warhead is an adaptation of the PC version for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, running on a console version of CryEngine2 recently sported to a select few individuals during GDC 2008. After all, Crytek followed a similar pattern with Far Cry, releasing the Far Cry Instincts games (Evolution and Predator) using a modified version of the PC engine.

So if Crysis Warhead is a console version, then why discontinue support for the PC game? Perhaps there is an expansion pack in the works that will tack on content found in Crysis Warhead, using one of the other three names Crytek registered for trademark: Crysis Wars, Crysis Warzone or World in Crysis.

But at this point, it's all speculation until someone official coughs up the goods. However when you read, "we are confident that the things we are working on will be appreciated by the community," you have to assume that the PC side of Crysis is not in jeopardy in terms of support and continuation, only in hibernation.

Stay tuned for more details about Crysis updates and Crysis Warhead.

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