Support NeoGAF

[Metal-Geo]

The number of studios Crytek hashad always been a bit of a surprise to me. I remember even back when Crysis Warhead was released (which would be their 2nd and a half game) they already had about 3 or 4 studios worldwide.

Sorry to hear for all those affected. Hope they'll land on their feet soon.

 

[Ridley327]

Wow, I had no idea that they had such an expansive stable of studios. No wonder they ran into so many income problems when they had that many mouths to feed. That strikes me as being immensely irresponsible on their part.

All the luck in the world to anyone laid off, especially this close to Xmas.

 

[Lasthope106]

Well at least they are still in business to some degree. The industry is much better with Crytek than without it. I just hope they go back to their roots and make a sequel worthy of the first Crysis. That's what the fans want.

 

[Bigboss242]

So they are getting paid before they get laid off right...

 

[Ladekabel]

That was closed a long time ago, when they previously had funding problems.

Damn. Missed that.

 

[FelipeMGM]

PR link if Op wants to add

http://crytek.com/news/crytek-outlines-future-plans-and-focuses-on-return-to-core-competencies


What a shitshow, hope they pay the people they owe

 

[Chubzdoomer]

Crytek definitely expanded way, WAY fast. All those studios... holy shit.

 

[LewieP]

How on earth is "Sorry we'll pay everyone now" not the first line of the press release?

Huge sympathy for any staff involved. The management are gutless.

Hopefully they'll now sell Timesplitters for a reasonable price, probably to Deep Silver, THQ Nordic or maybe even Devolver.

 

[tuxfool]

Anybody have any figures on how big each of those studios were? We're all saying, "so many studios" but do we know how many people are about to be laid off?

 

[Rolf NB]

What about Crytek UK / ex Free Radical?

 

[Slayven]

Damn they were all over.

 

[Pantaghana]

I don't think so; those games were through EA Partners. I think Crytek always owned it.

Actually, found this:

RULES FOR CRYENGINE IP USAGE

You are not legally allowed to import Crysis assets into the FarCry Editor.
All Crysis IP rights belong to EA, however, you are allowed to use Crysis assets with the CryEngine 2's Crysis, Crysis: Warhead and Crysis Wars SDK only.
All FarCry assets belong to Ubisoft and as such may not be used within the Crysis Editor.​

From Cryengine community forums, source.

 

[Tunesmith]

Damn. Missed that.

Many of the former Vigil Games staff that became Crytek USA then became Gunfire Games after Crytek shut down in 2014. Gunfire has made a few Oculus VR titles so far, (Chronos and Dead & Buried most notably) and also did the Darksiders 2 remaster before that.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I hope everyone lands on their feet

 

[tuxfool]

What about Crytek UK / ex Free Radical?

That is Dambusters now, and it was sold off to Deep Silver when the previous time they had funding issues.

 

[Theorry]

So they sold the Warface IP also?

 

[Nirolak]

So they sold the Warface IP also?

That's presumably how they got cash to keep going. Warface, Warface's sequel, and the IP.

 

[2real4tv]

Sounds like they grew to fast.

 

[LordBaztion]

Are they refocusing on games or still going to mantain their multipurpose support of their engine?

 

[Stone Ocean]

They lasted a lot longer than I expected them to since the first time we heard they were having problems.

 

[Don.Abbade]

Best of wishes to all those affected...

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

Sell the Ryse IP to Microsoft.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Crytek definitely expanded way, WAY fast. All those studios... holy shit.

The expansion never made sense because it didn't seem like they ever had a big hit. Crysis did fine, but it wasn't like a CoD or anything like that. And it didn't seem like CryEngine ever really caught on to the degree that they'd hoped. So, a crash seems inevitable when you're growing at a rate much greater than your success.

 

[Naked Prime]

Sell Timesplitters

 

[dmr87]

Inevitable after all the articles we've seen on Crytek.

 

[Schlorgan]

Sell Timesplitters to Respawn!

Spoiler

Watch, it'll end up with Gearbox.

 

[tilomite!]

What were all those studios working on?

 

[Crawl]

Sell Timesplitters

Just wait till gearbox buys it.

 

[gofreak]

So will they meet any and all outstanding wage payments in these studios before shuttering them? The business shouldn't proceed at all without doing that first, if it's not been done already (?)

 

[tesqui]

I know this will never happen, but it'd be cool if they went back to being a PC exclusive company. I miss getting excited about there technical marvels.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

Sell Timesplitters to Respawn!

Spoiler

Watch, it'll end up with Gearbox.

Just wait till gearbox buys it.

Whatever it takes to revive the franchise.

 

[sirap]

Good.

Sucks for all the people losing work, but if the rumors were true (and this move certainly gives credence to them) they might be better off with another studio.

I never understood why Crytek expanded so quickly in the first place. I hope they manage to recover and refocus their attention on Cryengine and the IP's they own.

 

[Phamit]

Are they still doing their other F2P titles besides Warface?

 

[BigTnaples]

This sucks.



Best wishes to Crytek. Criminally underrated output with Crysis and Ryse.

 

[semiconscious]

Will the employees who haven't been paid for weeks/months be compensated?

my first thought. never mind severance pay ...

 

[Garlador]

Best of luck to all those affected. Always sucks to lose a job around the holidays and I hope others in the industry can pick them up.

 

[faridmon]

A good example of how not expand into 100 studios after only few success under your belt. What farce really.

 

[Granjinha]

With the number of studios and employees they had, I doubt the few million $ they would have gotten would help much, maybe keep them working a day or two longer.

No. If they sold Ryse, MS would have banked the sequel (developed by them). So not a 'day or two longer'

 

[Purple Cheeto]

Will the employees who haven't been paid for weeks/months be compensated?

Of course not. That's never how this works.

 

[orichalcos]

Farevell Crytek Budapest.

 

[Mupod]

I can't imagine just getting my October paycheck. Like how the fuck do you pay your bills? That's just horrible.

Having been in that situation, in a job that probably paid a hell of a lot worse, it's the worst thing I've ever been through. It hurts just to read about this. But at least Crytek is big enough that I don't see the employees they shafted walking away with nothing. I don't know the laws of the countries involved, of course. Canada has wage theft laws but doesn't enforce them very well...my previous employer got away with everything.

But yeah having worked in a place that was withholding/stealing pay, it has a huge effect on morale to the point that the ones who didn't quit, didn't really do any work. I actually only went in because it was a good place to focus and hunt for other jobs, free coffee and no video game distractions.

 

[Shredderi]

They expanded way too fast after their hit with Crysis. They just misread the market and couldn't make a game that people wanted after that.

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

Why the hell did they open so many studios to begin with?

 

[qanters]

Sell Timesplitters to Respawn!

Spoiler

Watch, it'll end up with Gearbox.

THQ Nordic pls

 

[Pantaghana]

No. If they sold Ryse, MS would have banked the sequel (developed by them). So not a 'day or two longer'

Would all 5 studios listed in the OP be working on that hypothetical sequel?

 

[Yukinari]

What recent game even used Cryengine? All i can think of right now is Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric.

 

[Hello? This is Hailun!]

RIP Free Radical.... again?

What recent game even used Cryengine? All i can think of right now is Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric.

Star Citizen and the new Prey.

 

[Nirolak]

RIP Free Radical.... again?

They're owned by Deep Silver and made Homefront: The Revolution.

 

[KKRT00]

They expanded way too fast after their hit with Crysis. They just misread the market and couldn't make a game that people wanted after that.

They were spoiled by Military and Architectural contracts that they had, i think.

----

Ps. I still cant believe they did not do Crysis Trilogy remaster on next-gen launch. It would be so successful, its mind-boggling.

 

[FyreWulff]

Just wait till gearbox buys it.

darkest timeline