Crysis, Homefront: The Revolution and Ryse: Sons of Rome developer Crytek has announced the company will be shutting down all studios except for the Frankfurt company headquarters and the Warface studio in Kiev.
This news comes via a press release where Crytek revealed plans to shift the focus of the company. Crytek will instead further develop the CRYENGINE and license it out to other developers while continuing to “develop and work on premium IPs.”
“Undergoing such transitions is far from easy, and we’d like to sincerely thank each and every staff member – past and present – for their hard work and commitment to Crytek. These changes are part of the essential steps we are taking to ensure Crytek is a healthy and sustainable business moving forward that can continue to attract and nurture our industry’s top talent,” Crytek co-founder and managing director Avni Yerli said in a press statement. “The reasons for this have been communicated internally along the way. Our focus now lies entirely on the core strengths that have always defined Crytek – world-class developers, state-of-the-art technology and innovative game development, and we believe that going through this challenging process will make us a more agile, viable, and attractive studio, primed for future success.”
This comes after news of Crytek employees not getting paid surfaced earlier this month. Employees at the main office in Frankfurt were reporting over three months of missed paychecks, while those in Budapest and Bulgaria reported the same. What’s worse is this same thing already happened once back in 2014.
According to the press release, the studios affected by this announcement include Crytek Black Sea in Bulgaria, Crytek Budapest, Crytek Istanbul, Crytek Seoul and Crytek Shanghai. The press statement mentions that plans have been put into action to “secure jobs and to ensure a smooth transition and stable future.” Still, best of luck to those impacted by the studio closings.
