It turns out 2016 was the worst for everyone after all. Crytek, the development studio known for its cutting edge visual technology and PC melting graphics engines, hasn’t exactly had the best year in terms of profit, which as lead to them closing several offices in order to tighten the financial belt.
In an official statement by Crytek, the multinational developer announced they were shutting down their multiple studios across the world. At their height, the indie studio employed over 700 people across countless locations in Europe. They now only have two main offices in Frankfurt, Germany and Kiev, Ukraine respectively.
“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,” said Managing Director Avni Yerli. “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.”
As for the matter of lost employees in this transition, the studio was adamant that people would not be laid off, stating, “[we have] put plans into action to secure jobs and to ensure a smooth transition and stable future.” This is comforting since the studio has had several instances of not paying their employees wages back in 2014 and as recent as six months ago.
Crytek are known around the world for their impressive work in video games and widely beloved for their work on the highly polished and critically acclaimed Far Cry and Crysis games as well as its Xbox One launch title Ryse: Son of Rome. Although the studio has recently dipped into making free-to-play games, they have licensed their high fidelity game engine to multiple studios. These projects include the critically panned Sonic Boom: The Rise of Lyric, to the recently announced Prey being developed by Arkane Studios.
