Crytek rumors persist: staff not being paid on time, Ryse sequel dropped, according to sources

Julio Franco

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Crytek, the developer behind Crysis and Xbox One launch game Ryse, is having trouble paying employees, and the company has been bleeding staff since March, according to people who work there.

In addition, from what I hear, the multi-national studio has had to cancel work on multiple games over the past few months, including some original prototypes and a sequel to last fall's Xbox One exclusive, Ryse. 

Current and former Crytek employees describe a tense, unstable environment, plagued by poor communication and a number of high-level staff departures at the company's biggest studios in Germany and Britain. In extensive conversations over the past few weeks, developers have described a company in turmoil, where staff openly talk about leaving or looking for new jobs. One employee estimates that some 100 people have left over the past three months.

News of Crytek's woes first entered the public eye over the weekend, as rumors started to swirl that the company is in trouble. Crytek representatives have publicly denied all allegations that the company is facing financial difficulties, but evidence is mounting that something is wrong at the 800-person company, not just through Glassdoor reviews and anonymous comments onKotaku, but through our own sources, who paint a morbid picture. 

Over the past few weeks, I've been in touch with ten current and former employees at the independent game developer. I've also spoken to a handful of people who have talked to current Crytek employees. All of these sources, speaking anonymously in order to protect their careers, describe a company that has been frequently missing payments and regularly assuring employees that everything will be fixed in the future, only to continue sending out checks late.

In conversations, employees expressed a great deal of frustration with the lack of communication within Crytek's studios. One odd company mandate, according to four current employees, was that nobody could talk about salary issues via e-mail, presumably to prevent anyone from leaking that there have been problems. Almost all conversations about payment issues at Crytek's studios are handled in person, which is one reason it's taken so long for me to report this story, after first hearing rumblings way back in March.

Still, many of Crytek's staff are unhappy. They've spoken out in hopes that publicizing the issues will push for some change.

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"Trying to confine the problem rather than tackling it is not the way to go about this anymore; it's too big now," said one current Crytek employee. "Honest communication, inclusion, and a work environment based on trust could have gone a long way, and may have stopped people from leaving."

Crytek, which is currently developing the shooter Homefront: The Revolution and the MOBAArena of Fate, consists of several studios across the world, including a main office in Frankfurt, Germany and satellite studios in other cities like Austin, Texas and Nottingham, UK. I mostly spoke to people in Crytek's Frankfurt and UK offices, but employees have assured me that these payment issues are affecting the entire company.

In March of this year, according to four people who have worked at Crytek Frankfurt, paychecks came two weeks late. Though missed paychecks were not an anomaly for Crytek—the company has been late on payments a few times over the past few years, two sources say—this was particularly unusual because of the circumstances surrounding it.

A few months earlier, Crytek had cancelled an original game that was set to enter pre-production. Then, in February, word came down that Crytek would no longer be working with Microsoft to make Ryse 2, according to three employees. Crytek's work on the game was cancelled—because of a conflict over who would own rights to the franchise, those employees say—and Microsoft would no longer be sending them checks. 

(When asked about this, Ryse publisher Microsoft sent me a statement saying they have "nothing to announce about the future of the franchise at this time." I don't know whether or not Microsoft can or will make a Ryse sequel with another developer.)

"Suddenly the direction everyone saw us go in was not that clear anymore," one current Crytek employee said in an e-mail. "It was obvious that we didn't have any big time publishers at our back to finance our development... A lot of people started to get frustrated then (and started to look for other work), as the strategy was not clear to the employees."

As an independent video game developer—one of the largest in the world—Crytek survives in part by taking big contracts from big publishers like EA and Microsoft. If a multi-million-dollar contract is unexpectedly cancelled, any independent studio, no matter how big, could find itself quickly strapped for cash. Crytek employees told me that the company was reluctant to lay people off, so their solution was to delay paychecks until they could find another solution.

On top of those cancelled projects, Crytek employees say the company's recent big-picture decisions have also led to some struggles. One common complaint among staff is that the company has shifted gears from making big-budget shooters like Far Cry and Crysis to free-to-play games like the upcoming Arena of Fate and the unfortunately-titled shooter Warface, which bombed everywhere but Russia, according to three employees. 

Early last year, Crytek boss Cevat Yerli told VentureBeat they planned to transition to making only free-to-play games, which worried a number of employees, even as they continued working on Ryse and the upcoming Homefront: The Revolution, both $60 console games.

"Instead of focusing on the core strengths of the company, which would be the [Crytek] engine and innovative PC titles, we simply jumped at every next big thing in the industry," said a Crytek employee. "Except that each time we did, it was a little too late and we were running after our competitors. There's no sense of identity at this point and I think that frustrates both employees and fans."

crytek ryse crysis rumor kotaku

At the beginning of March, just after Ryse 2's cancellation, Frankfurt employees didn't receive their checks, according to almost all of the people I spoke with. These payment issues trickled down to other studios at the company, too. Some Crytek UK employees have told me they were only paid 30%-40% of their paychecks, and others have reached out to say they haven't been paid in months. (I've also heard from people who say their friends at Crytek have not been paid in various amounts of time.) Different people have different experiences to share; some say they were paid properly in April and May, while some say they were not. 

Three Frankfurt employees say they've watched Crytek co-founders Cevat and Avni Yerli continue to drive their Ferrari sports cars to work over the past few months, which one source called "a slap in the face" to employees who weren't getting paid on time. One former employee added that the company spent a ton of money on expensive chairs, laptop bags, and other studio perks, including first-class flight tickets for high-level employees.

"There was no expense spared on anything," that employee said.

"Even when the financial troubles started, people were still flying between studios regularly, and while salaries didn't get paid, the travels were still authorized," said a second employee. 

Current and former Crytek employees also complain about bureaucratic processes at the company, describing an environment where, according to one former employee, developers must navigate "layers upon layers of middle management" in order to get things done.

"At one point it became a bit of a joke within the company that some people didn't even know who to report to anymore," one current employee said.

Are things getting better? During a staff meeting in Frankfurt this month, Crytek's upper management promised they'd be receiving a major cash injection soon, according to two people who were in attendance. But as of yesterday, people I've talked to say they have not received full paychecks.

A few weeks ago, when I first started hearing word of these issues, I reached out to Crytek PR head Jens Schäfer for comment, and was told that "the information [I] got is not correct." At E3 two weeks ago, I went to Crytek's booth and asked Schäfer if the company was having payment issues, and he denied that they were, instead promising to get me in touch with one of Crytek's co-founders after E3. Since then, Crytek's PR representatives have not responded to five e-mails I've sent requesting their side of this story, even as the story has developed over the past two days.

"It upsets me greatly that Crytek continues to deny these allegations," one former employee told me in an e-mail. "They are all true!"

Yesterday, Crytek co-founder Avni Yerli told staff not to talk to the press about anything that was happening at the studio, according to three current employees. But people at Crytek are frustrated. They want things to get better. So now they're speaking out.

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It's sad to see a company like Crytek decide to ditch their core audience in search of more money. They have everything they need to go the way of Epic games, and promote their Engine with 1 OTT big budget game every few years, and keep most of the staff optimizing their engine. That's the business model they should have copied. It seems like their in the death spiral right now. Once you start cancelling major console exclusives, it's about time to pack your bags.

Obviously poor management plays a major part, but their long term goals, or a lack there of, is the real problem.
 
I'm not surprised. I feel bad for the employees, but this is what happens when you work for a poorly managed company that makes even worse games.
 
I am really looking forward to Homefront too, but can't blame the workers if they call it quits on their own and leave due to the mess.

I wonder how this is effecting that Time Splitters fanservice remake from the one guy I last heard was still working for them; it was on his free time of course too.
 
I couldn't wait to play and see the original Crysis at MAXIMUM detail. I pre-ordered Crysis 2 and didn't like it. Crysis 3 I liked even less, because they didn't really add anything new. I don't want to see Crytek go, but damn come out with a better IP. Oh they did? Ryse? That linear and repetitive action/adventure game with no replay value was Crytek? Wow.

Even FarCry 2 and 3 were disappointments to me. Same with FEAR 2 and 3. Too many sequels, not enough, dare I say, innovative ideas in games.

Creating a 3D game should start with a blank canvas and a wild imagination, but developers are working like they are using templates. Like they are just going through the motions. Devs add a dog and a fish to a FPS game, and we are supposed to be excited about that in 2013?

E3 2014 looked promising though...
 
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Even FarCry 2 and 3 were disappointments to me. Same with FEAR 2 and 3. Too many sequels, not enough, dare I say, innovative ideas in games.

Not sure if you were insinuating that the Far Cry and FEAR sequels were CryTek products, but they weren't.
 
Even FarCry 2 and 3 were disappointments to me. Same with FEAR 2 and 3. Too many sequels, not enough, dare I say, innovative ideas in games.

Not sure if you were insinuating that the Far Cry and FEAR sequels were CryTek products, but they weren't.

I know. The point was sequels that didn't live up to the original like Crysis imo.
 
In my opinion, they really should develop in house rather than taking these big contracts. I think they were a lot better off doing things there own way rather than someone elses way. You never know when someone like Microsoft will pull the plug on a project and leave the developer hanging.
 
It's sad to see a company like Crytek decide to ditch their core audience in search of more money. They have everything they need to go the way of Epic games, and promote their Engine with 1 OTT big budget game every few years, and keep most of the staff optimizing their engine. That's the business model they should have copied.

They needed more money because their "core audience" wasn't enough, it isn't hard to understand, and I'm part of the people than liked alot crysis and loved crysis 2.
Also, they went the way epic went with their engine, and that is one of the reasons why they made crysis 2 the way it was to put their engine in the eyes of the console developers.

I hope this isn't real, Crytek is a very good and hard working company.
 
It's sad to see a company like Crytek decide to ditch their core audience in search of more money. They have everything they need to go the way of Epic games, and promote their Engine with 1 OTT big budget game every few years, and keep most of the staff optimizing their engine. That's the business model they should have copied.

They needed more money because their "core audience" wasn't enough, it isn't hard to understand, and I'm part of the people than liked alot crysis and loved crysis 2.
Also, they went the way epic went with their engine, and that is one of the reasons why they made crysis 2 the way it was to put their engine in the eyes of the console developers.

I hope this isn't real, Crytek is a very good and hard working company.

They ignored their core group to gain market share and then lost everything. I don't know a PC gamer that didn't own crysis 1. Then they came out with a garbage game and called it crysis 2, completely ignoring their base. Crysis 2 wasn't even remotely like crysis 1. They wanted to expand their market share into the console market and it just didn't work. They could have made some amazing games, but they dumbed everything down so it ran on a console. It was them aiming for the console market that spelled doom for them. Instead of exploring wide open, beautiful areas they put you in a cramped, liner path. I think Crytek is a rare case were staying a PC only developer would have the best option.

They wanted crysis to be more like DuesX, but crysis was crysis, it didn't need to be anything else.
 
It's sad to see a company like Crytek decide to ditch their core audience in search of more money. They have everything they need to go the way of Epic games, and promote their Engine with 1 OTT big budget game every few years, and keep most of the staff optimizing their engine. That's the business model they should have copied. It seems like their in the death spiral right now. Once you start cancelling major console exclusives, it's about time to pack your bags.

Obviously poor management plays a major part, but their long term goals, or a lack there of, is the real problem.

I'm not sure you understand who Crytek's core audience is. HINT: It isn't gamers. Crytek makes the majority of its money off of simulations for military, education and other government agencies. Gaming is an afterthought and a simple vehicle to serve as a testbed for engine advancements, and general exposure of their engine for licensing. Crytek has never been a game developer. They are a developer who has accidentally made a few games to demo their tech.
 
It's sad to see a company like Crytek decide to ditch their core audience in search of more money. They have everything they need to go the way of Epic games, and promote their Engine with 1 OTT big budget game every few years, and keep most of the staff optimizing their engine. That's the business model they should have copied. It seems like their in the death spiral right now. Once you start cancelling major console exclusives, it's about time to pack your bags.

Obviously poor management plays a major part, but their long term goals, or a lack there of, is the real problem.

Well from the looks of things they're going to be hurting soon. When you can't pay your employees they will find that money by working for another company and not yours anymore.
 
I personally blame publishers, crytek would be 100% perfrectly fine without publishers as publishers tend (100% of the time) only give them what 85% of what they actually need to complete a project with a stupidly short frame time with mega high expectations which means crytek making next to nothing whilst taking on new people just to help with the work!

if the top 5 publishers had a different approach to game development studios would actually make a profit and not live on scraps... if I owned crytek I would make it so no one could control the way I manage my studio and I would make sure we had enough money to last us 2 games worth...
 
They ignored their core group to gain market share and then lost everything. I don't know a PC gamer that didn't own crysis 1. Then they came out with a garbage game and called it crysis 2, completely ignoring their base. Crysis 2 wasn't even remotely like crysis 1. They wanted to expand their market share into the console market and it just didn't work. They could have made some amazing games, but they dumbed everything down so it ran on a console. It was them aiming for the console market that spelled doom for them. Instead of exploring wide open, beautiful areas they put you in a cramped, liner path. I think Crytek is a rare case were staying a PC only developer would have the best option.

They wanted crysis to be more like DuesX, but crysis was crysis, it didn't need to be anything else.

I couldn't agree more, they kinda brought this on themselves for going the console route.
Just FYI, Crysis 2 is the reason I do not pre-order games any more. I took a day off work for that game and it was the biggest let down, To this day, I refuse to pre-order games because of how bad Crysis 2 was.
 
It's sad to see a company like Crytek decide to ditch their core audience in search of more money. They have everything they need to go the way of Epic games, and promote their Engine with 1 OTT big budget game every few years, and keep most of the staff optimizing their engine. That's the business model they should have copied.

They needed more money because their "core audience" wasn't enough, it isn't hard to understand, and I'm part of the people than liked alot crysis and loved crysis 2.
Also, they went the way epic went with their engine, and that is one of the reasons why they made crysis 2 the way it was to put their engine in the eyes of the console developers.

I hope this isn't real, Crytek is a very good and hard working company.

They ignored their core group to gain market share and then lost everything. I don't know a PC gamer that didn't own crysis 1. Then they came out with a garbage game and called it crysis 2, completely ignoring their base. Crysis 2 wasn't even remotely like crysis 1. They wanted to expand their market share into the console market and it just didn't work. They could have made some amazing games, but they dumbed everything down so it ran on a console. It was them aiming for the console market that spelled doom for them. Instead of exploring wide open, beautiful areas they put you in a cramped, liner path. I think Crytek is a rare case were staying a PC only developer would have the best option.

They wanted crysis to be more like DuesX, but crysis was crysis, it didn't need to be anything else.

Agreed. :/
 
Agree with what other posters have been saying , they didn't focus on there main audience , crysis must have sold well , everyone I know owns it.

The article says they are making a free to play MOBA type game that's sounds like a disastrous idea unless they somehow make the greatest game ever made . Way to many well established and great games already in that field , not to mention HOTS on its way.

Seems like management have made some very bad choices and just chased what seems popular.
 
It's sad to see a company like Crytek decide to ditch their core audience in search of more money.
That (in my mind) is the equivalent to missing a turn on the highway and going the wrong direction. Now to see if they can correct their navigational error or change their destination. It is likely though that this change was already made before hand. Time to see if their cards play out in favor of this change.
 
That (in my mind) is the equivalent to missing a turn on the highway and going the wrong direction. Now to see if they can correct their navigational error or change their destination. It is likely though that this change was already made before hand. Time to see if their cards play out in favor of this change.

They just need release another groundbreaking game like Crysis was. Obviously easier said than done, but they need to push PC hardware to it's limits, and show that they can build games that no one else is either willing, or able to do. This also means leaving PS4 and XBO behind at the moment.
 
I agree. However that is less likely to happen, when they continue to loose staff. Maybe it is only the dead weight that keeps leaving.

I'd like to think so, but something's telling me they're going the way of THQ. The Crysis series will be picked up by someone, as will Ryse. The rest of their IPs will probably fall by the wayside.
 
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