Update:
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New thread, based on the post of junior member Razyl:
It is important to notice that Crytek has [at least they had before] a lot of non-gaming contracts, where they are using their Crytengine to create demos and simulators for military/architecture and other business uses.
Discuss.
Kudos to Razyl, here's the info from the article:
*Information is from a half dozen independent sources, according to Yerli "dramatized rumors" from disgruntled ex-employers
*Salaries are paid late and leading employees are sending applications to other studios at home and abroad
*Warface doesn't work outside of Russia, other attempts at F2P were unsuccessful
*G-face was a flop
*The development of Ryse was catastrophic: mere months before release, the title was severely behind, only with additional manpower they were able to finish it
*Disagreements with MS over the ownership of Ryse's IP could be a red flag for other publishers
*Adoption of CryEngine not going as planned, word-of-mouth at GDC was negative
*Too many employees, burn-rate too high (3-5 M euro).
*"The vultures are already circling," says a leading representative for a major publisher.
*Big publishers are not interested in buying outright,would rather wait for bankruptcy, sign the talent and shop the IPs.
*Belarusian Free2Play giant Wargaming is listed as a possible buyer of Crytek
* Avni Yerli says a cash injection for the company is finally imminent. The contract has not been signed yet, but is as good as in the bag. "It's not all great. Our transition to Free2Play studio was not painless. But that is now behind us, "he concludes.
Eurogamer said:Before E3 one source told Eurogamer staff at Crytek's Sofia office in Bulgaria hadn't received salaries for the past two months.
Eurogamer has also received worrying reports coming out of Crytek UK, which is rumoured to have failed to pay employees on time. Management have been accused by some staff of a lack of transparency over these issues, and many are disgruntled, Eurogamer has heard.
But Crytek may have secured investment and thus its future - in the short term at least. The GameStar report mentions a potential buyout by World of Tanks maker Wargaming, but Eurogamer has heard investment from a Chinese firm may have been tabled.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-06-23-crysis-developer-crytek-claims-bankrupt-report-is-false
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 concrete—until 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."
http://kotaku.com/rumors-swirl-about-trouble-at-crytek-1586824777
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New thread, based on the post of junior member Razyl:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=117573977&postcount=668Just junior member and don't know where to post but i thinks its quite interessting.
Gamestar, a german videogamesmagazine, published today a story named "Die Geier kreisen über Crytek" ("The vultures are circling over Crytek") => http://www.gamestar.de/specials/reports/3057060/crytek_krise.html
Short info about it:
- Crytek got financial problems
- there are working over 800 employees
- Microsoft and Crytek talked about Ryse 2, but yet it is not in development, because microsoft wants the trademark and crytek don't want to give it up
- Reasons for the problems: Free-2-Play & Cryengine not work as well as expected, crysis 3 and ryse aren't big sellers etc.
- they got saved for now but maybe not forever
The article is only for the gamestar subscription service. I think if homefront, hunt and the moba will fail, then its maybe game over for Crytek.
(sorry for my english, it's not my native language^^)
It is important to notice that Crytek has [at least they had before] a lot of non-gaming contracts, where they are using their Crytengine to create demos and simulators for military/architecture and other business uses.
Discuss.