Multiplayer Demo
EA and Crytek launched a multiplayer demo of Crysis 2 on January 25, 2011. Crytek announced that the demo would only be available until February 4, 2011. The demo was exclusively on the Xbox 360, for Gold members to download, although on January 27, Crytek confirmed that there would be a multiplayer demo for the PC. The demo featured the maps Skyline and Pier 17, as well as two multiplayer game modes to play: Team Instant Action and Crash Site. Team Instant Action puts two teams against one another in a team deathmatch style, while Crash Site has players defending alien drop pods like control points. Within hours of its release, thousands of complaints were reported after numbers of players were met with disconnects from games, crashing during loading and, oddly, a temperamental incompatibility with the Xbox Wireless WiFi adaptor. Crytek issued a statement telling players it was aware of "technical issues" with the Xbox multiplayer demo of Crysis 2, and managed to fix most of the issues in time for the PC demo. Some bugs still exist as of the current trial build but are mostly if not entirely visual and do not noticeably affect game play.
Speaking at an EA event to PlayStation Universe, Crysis 2 producer Nathan Camarillo said PlayStation 3 gamers "can probably hope for one". "We want as many people to play Crysis 2 as possible," he added. "I can't say anything too specific ... we haven't announced yet." Camarillo went on to say there would be no difference in quality between the PS3 version of Crysis 2 and the Xbox 360 one, which had seen a pre-release demo. Crytek released the first footage of Crysis 2 running on PlayStation 3 on February 24, 2011. The end of the video confirmed that a multiplayer beta is on the way for the system, but no date for the PS3 beta was announced.
The second Crysis 2 multiplayer demo was released on March 1, 2011 on both the PC and the Xbox 360, with a PS3 demo launching "soon". Among bug fixes from the first beta, the map 'Pier 17' was added to the Xbox version and extended to the PC version. PC gamers have commented on Xbox 360 remnants in the PC demo version, such as the prompt to "press start to begin" or to "adjust your TV settings" when configuring the game brightness. It has also been reported that the PC version would not be released with support for DirectX 11, which will instead be implemented with a patch "later on". On April 8, 2011, Crytek announced – still without marking delivery date – that a DirectX 11 patch was being worked on.
On March 15, 2011, a multiplayer demo was released on the PlayStation Network, featuring both of the maps featured on the Xbox 360 version of the demo, being 'Pier 17' and 'Skyline'. On March 18, it was removed from the Store and the servers were shut down due to server connection delays. Crytek stated they have "identified the root cause and have decided to close the PS3 demo ... to ensure all issues are resolved when the game launches next week", as their priority is to "ensure that the final product is flawless at launch."