Valve also was able to build the one PC platform people can agree to install on their computer and get consumers to buy product from and companiges to part royalties from.Also to put it into perspective, they have been around for about as long as Valve, and Valve has made about double the games of crytek.
Jesus, You would never have thought they were in such bad shape.
My friend works there, they haven't gotten paid in 3 months. His head of studio is on vacation!
People are resigning like crazy. I just feel sorry for the people. They were told to not go public and so on.
I've always found that puzzling too. I think even now the Far Cry series is still credited as 'based on Far Cry by Cevat Yerli'. That must have been a condition of the sale from Crytek to Ubi, and just smacks of egotism.
In addition, I've learned that Crytek UK managing director Karl Hilton is leaving his current position. When I reached out, Hilton said he would be moving to a different role within the company, though he had no other details to share.
"With new titles such as Warface and Arena of Fate, Crytek is moving in to self publishing and new business models," Hilton told me. "After 5 years as [managing director] for Crytek UK I am also looking to develop my role and responsibilities in line with these new opportunities at Crytek and I am currently looking at this with the company."
Rumblings about issues at Crytek started in March, when Kotaku got a tip from an anonymous e-mail address:
I am an employee in the Frankfurt studio.
None of us have been paid last month's salary. It is normally paid before the end of the month.
It is 11 days late and none of us have been given an explanation by management.
All we have to go on are rumors.
This is not the only sign of troubles at Crytek.
I responded asking for more information, but never heard back. In the coming months I heard a couple more tips about issues at Crytek, but nothing concreteuntil earlier this month.
Three weeks ago, one Crytek UK employee contacted us to say the studio had been missing bonuses, and that they had not been paid since April.
"My reason for reaching out is mainly because there are a lot of people in my situation and it isn't right for a company to not pay staff on time," one Crytek UK employee told me in early June. "People should know that there are a bunch of employees who deserve a better company. These things should not be kept in the dark."
Valve also was able to build the one PC platform people can agree to install on their computer and get consumers to buy product from and companiges to part royalties from.
I assumed their games had to sell really fucking well in Germany and Poland to make up for how they were doing everywhere else for their budgets.
I assumed their games had to sell really fucking well in Germany and Poland to make up for how they were doing everywhere else for their budgets.
If true, it's really not cool to not inform your employees about what's going on. 3 months without a salary is tough. As a studio, I always felt pursuing graphics over everything else was a bad idea. Id Software, Epic, Crytek...look where they are now.
If true, it's really not cool to not inform your employees about what's going on. 3 months without a salary is tough. As a studio, I always felt pursuing graphics over everything else was a bad idea. Id Software, Epic, Crytek...look where they are now.
If true, it's really not cool to not inform your employees about what's going on. 3 months without a salary is tough. As a studio, I always felt pursuing graphics over everything else was a bad idea. Id Software, Epic, Crytek...look where they are now.
Epic are fine. They're also owned by Tencent, so have no financial worries for the time being.
Crytek's problem was not in pursuing high-end graphics, but in following trends and trying to make their games appeal to the widest possible audience but making poorer products as a result. To use terminology I'm not fond of, they definitely 'console-ised' their games. They should have doubled down on what made Crysis a success, not changed the fundamental design of the sequel to try and find a larger audience.
My friend works there, they haven't gotten paid in 3 months. His head of studio is on vacation!
People are resigning like crazy. I just feel sorry for the people. They were told to not go public and so on.
Epic are fine. They're also owned by Tencent, so have no financial worries for the time being.
Crytek's problem was not in pursuing high-end graphics, but in following trends and trying to make their games appeal to the widest possible audience but making poorer products as a result. To use terminology I'm not fond of, they definitely 'console-ised' their games. They should have doubled down on what made Crysis a success, not changed the fundamental design of the sequel to try and find a larger audience.
Yeah, unlike Crytek, Epic is actually successfully switching to a self published model and actually still running a successful licensing business.Most people dont know that Tencent has a large set of shares invested in Epic.
Tencent is everywhere.
Most people dont know that Tencent has a large set of shares invested in Epic.
Tencent is everywhere.
Thats more well known, you hear them mentioned all the time from LoL people about Riots current developmental output and pricing model since the Tencent buyout.and in Riot Games
On the Tencent note, I wonder which Chinese firm is being rumored to infuse Crytek with cash.
Yeah, I don't think it's Tencent solely on the basis that Tencent really only makes smart investments, whereas I don't think this is actually a good idea on paper.Thats more well known, you hear them mentioned all the time from LoL people about Riots current developmental output and pricing model since the Tencent buyout.
Its either a Chinese firm, I doubt its Tencent, since they already have a studio that has a licensed engine for sale, could be one of their big competitors, trying to do something similar to Tencent, but i dont know enough about that market to come up with a name.
Or they get bought out by the monolithic WoT devs, Wargaming. (rumors)
I feel for them this was more a reaction to not being able to sign console projects though, given the type of things they made and the staff size they went to.Looks like that F2P/Mobile future is working out pretty well for them.
Feel sorry for the good people there losing their jobs though.
Well the article notes they have some kind of short term investment at least, but no one knows how long that's expected to last or if it's just enough cash to try and attain some kind of buyout/massive revamp.According to a post I just read on an industry insider board (TCE) things have been rocky, but are improving.
Alleged source was a friend of the poster at Crytek HQ.
I can't vouch for its veracity, obviously it could be damage control, but I'd give it as much credit as any other unverified "insider" source.
Epic are fine. They're also owned by Tencent, so have no financial worries for the time being.
Crytek's problem was not in pursuing high-end graphics, but in following trends and trying to make their games appeal to the widest possible audience but making poorer products as a result. To use terminology I'm not fond of, they definitely 'console-ised' their games. They should have doubled down on what made Crysis a success, not changed the fundamental design of the sequel to try and find a larger audience.
I agree after the first Crysis they just banked on graphics first and foremost. Crysis at least expanded the open gameplay of Far Cry. They should have kept this legacy.
Tencent? **Googles**. A Chinese investment holding company? Ok Epic should be fine financially but UE4 is not being adopted very fast compared to UE3 and they haven't been able to keep playing the Most Advanced Graphics Engine card.
Can they port Crysis 3 to next gen? You'd get at least a million units sold there. Not sure that'd help enough.
UE4 is being adopted by an insane amount of indie devs- 15 dollars per user per month with vs say 500k license fee or more for only a dozen studios / publishers. Quickly the amount of money by opening the engine up is more valuable than closing it off to everyone but AAA studios.
Most people dont know that Tencent has a large set of shares invested in Epic.
Tencent is everywhere.
Tencent? **Googles**. A Chinese investment holding company?
They also didn't balloon to 800 people and then try to make this decision without any prior success.
On the Tencent note, I wonder which Chinese firm is being rumored to infuse Crytek with cash.
So far I haven't seen it. We are already 8 months (Or 1 year and 8 months) into this generation. But I agree this business model will probably be beneficial for them mid-term They had to do it anyway.
Isn't Valve still like only 300 people in total? I remember reading a while back they were very modestly sized, although that could have changed as Steam's importance really seems to have accelerated since then.
Isn't Valve still like only 300 people in total? I remember reading a while back they were very modestly sized, although that could have changed as Steam's importance really seems to have accelerated since then.
Crytek seemed way too arrogant to me, like their "Maximum Game" slogan back in 2007 as well as a lot of statements by Cevat Yerli.
UE4 is being adopted by an insane amount of indie devs- 15 dollars per user per month with vs say 500k license fee or more for only a dozen studios / publishers. Quickly the amount of money by opening the engine up is more valuable than closing it off to everyone but AAA studios.
His comment not long ago that graphics are 60% of a game is one of my favourites. No wonder they're failing if their CEO/owner (whatever he is) has an attitude like that!
GungHo is Japanese, but they're owned by SoftBank (who also just bought Supercell).Yep, although I'm not even sure most people know who Tencent are, as demonstrated by:
Tencent are a big deal, the fifth biggest online company after Amazon, Google, eBay and Facebook, and have increasing interest in video games. We'll be hearing a lot more of them, I'm sure.
Isn't Valve still like only 300 people in total? I remember reading a while back they were very modestly sized, although that could have changed as Steam's importance really seems to have accelerated since then.
Is GungHo Chinese or Japanese? They're another who I expect to be hearing much more from over the next few years.
To be fair, we're not even a year into this generation proper, and how many games used UE3 in the first year of the 360 generation? It wasn't until after Gears that adoption really accelerated. Although the pick-up this generation may be a bit slower as there's no Gears-level engine showcase on the horizon. Unreal Tournament and Fortnite are probably still some way from release.
And the amount of new updates they provide seeing tweets from mark rein is pretty cool to see. They get the whole UE4 no compromise what so ever the whole shabang.
Huh? Epic are doing great with their engine business
People not getting paid for the work they're doing is sad. Whether you personally like the studio's latest output or not shouldn't make a difference.They haven't made a good game since Crysis so hardly surprising or sad.
People not getting paid for the work they're doing is sad. Whether you personally like the studio's latest output or not shouldn't make a difference.