Crytek confirms financial troubles, closes most studios

Crytek has all-but confirmed rumours that it is once again in financial trouble, announcing plans to close five of its seven studios and concentrate on 'its core strengths.'

Best known for the Crysis franchise of games and the CryEngine game engine on which they are based, Crytek has been struggling financially for the past few years. Failing to licence its engine as widely as rivals Epic and Unity and unable to turn Xbox One launch title Ryse into a sustainable franchise, the company has been in dire straits: bankruptcy rumours in 2014 were followed by claims that employees weren't being paid, and the sale of Homefront to Deep Silver and a licensing deal from Amazon appears to have merely bought the company some time, as this month staff once again reported not being paid for anything up to the past six months.

Now, Crytek has released a statement which tacitly confirms the reports surrounding its financial situation, announcing that it will close five of its seven studios keeping only its Frankfurt and Kiev offices afloat. In doing so, the company has claimed, it will be able to concentrate on developing 'premium IPs' and its CryEngine software.

'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,' claimed Crytek co-founder and managing director Avni Yerli of the move. '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.'

Staff at its Budapest, Sofia, Seoul, Shanghai, and Istanbul studios are expected to be laid off as a result of the move, with rival engine developer Unity already reaching out to hire those it can.