Don’t call it a crysis.
An article published by Germany’s GameStar magazine, partially corroborated by anonymous reports of unpaid wages sent to Kotaku, suggest that all is not well at Crytek. The Crysis developer is said to be in financial trouble, with managing director Avni Yerli actively searching for additional sources of revenue.
Crytek has denied those reports in a statement to Eurogamer, stating:
Regardless of what some media are reporting, mostly based on a recent article published by GameStar, the information in those reports and in the GameStar article itself are rumors which Crytek deny.
We continue to focus on the development and publishing of our upcoming titles Homefront: The Revolution, Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age, Arena of Fate, and Warface, as well as providing ongoing support for our CryEngine and its licensees.
However, Kotaku’s Jason Schreier writes that employees of the Crytek UK office have confirmed stories about late paycheques and missing bonus payments. Another, anonymous, email from Crytek’s Frankfurt headquarters claims that their salaries have also gone unpaid.
Crytek UK’s managing director Karl Hilton is in the process of leaving his position, but says he is merely moving to a different role within the company.
The original GameStar article claims that the development of Xbox One exclusive title Ryse had been a “disaster” and cites the company’s transition to a free to play studio as “painful.”
Recent employee reviews of Crytek on GlassDoor are decidedly mixed. The company reportedly employs around 800 people at its various studios.
