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Crytek UK staff not paid full wages since April and more
- Thread starter dmr87
- Start date
Metallix87
Member
Once Microsoft moves in for a cheap buyout, I'd say it'll get back on track.
DarkJedi24
Member
This really sucks for all the employees at Crytek. In Jason's article it was mentioned that the Yerli's were still driving around in their Ferraris while their company is going under. Talk about a complete utter lack of class and dignity on their parts. Hopefully the company can turn things around, as Homefront: The Revolution is the most interesting title I've seen from them since the first Far Cry. It would be a shame if Crytek died just as they started producing some more inspired titles.
TheLostBigBoss
Banned
Dude I don't think Crytek is going to last long enough to finish Homefront.
There doesn't have to be a strong one in tech. There are strong ones period. Unions in the UK are not always sector specific, all are versed in employment law and will ensure employees rights are maintained and deal with what comes in any redundancy/insolvency issues that arise.
If people are in the unions then it will be at their own choice and something they joined them self.
Metallix87
Member
Microsoft's going to go after the whole enchilada, methinks.
The financial results of Crytek GmbH* over the past few years (everything in million EUR):
Code:
Revenue Net income/loss
2012 48,938 -9,424
2011 34,464 -8,215
2010 21,554 -21,015
2009 19,954 -2,933
2008 14,732 -3,810
2007 18,010 2,052
2006 10,373 0,417
2005 6,341 0,200
2004 3,264 0,245
2003 3,143 -0,371*Crytek GmbH has quite a lot of subsidiaries: one company for every studio except Frankfurt, RealTime Immersive Inc. (their “serious games and simulation studio” in Orlando), Crytek Lizenzverwaltung GmbH and Crytek Gface GmbH.
The numbers of 2003-07 are from 2007
I'm not trying to defend the company's actions here, but people have to understand that Crytek is most likely doing their best to survive. They might not actually want to screw their employees over, but simply find that the alternative, i.e. a foreclosure, is less beneficial to everyone involved, employees included. Situations like these entail making some hard decisions that might not seem immediately obvious or beneficial.
Yoda
Member
Well if the sources from Kotaku's article are to be believed the higher-ups aren't doing any kind of belt tightening to help the situation (flying to different studios for meetings which can be done via remote, only buying first class tickets on the company's dime, etc...). While I certainly won't claim to know what is going on there for certain, it sounds like executive mismanagement.
LilWayneSuckz
Member
The Death Knell.
That is one handsome man. Beard was the right choice.
Neil Druckman is a hunk
That is one handsome man. Beard was the right choice.
dragonelite
Member
Wouldn't be surprised if they are already assembling a team or give it too one of their in house teams.
Either secure the Ryse ip or make another Ip i dunno im just talking.
GoofsterStud
Member
Microsoft would be better off without Ryse. The iP is terrible. People know that the first game wasn't quality by now. They would be better off getting an ip like 300, ceaser, or the immortals to develop a franchise from a better beginnings. Even Xena could make an interesting Ryse like game.
Even using their own age of empires ip might work.
Even using their own age of empires ip might work.
Metallix87
Member
If Microsoft moves in for the buy out, I bet they go for everything. Tech, IPs, and maybe even hiring key personnel. Microsoft will captain the ship better, and they'll get what they wanted all along.
Whitechocolatekrispies
Banned
Actually their last few game which they did (Far Cry, Crysis 1 and Warhead) they sold incredibly well and put them on the gaming world map.
Ever since aiming for the mainstream console market, they ruined their game design (linear hallways on crappy hardware ... plus ryse) and basically gone from frontier developer to a middling bore fest.
I already miss Crytek because they went ages ago.
In the interest of making sure that information being spread is true, I think it's worth noting that this article appears to be entirely based on a single source, with none of the reported information corroborated outside of what outlets like GameStar and Kotaku have already reported.
The problem with reporting information from a single source is that it's all one person's perspective. How would one person know that every employee at the studio got payments of £700? Did this source ask all 90 employees about it? Was there a meeting where higher-ups said everyone would be paid £700? When this one source says there's low morale, is he/she really speaking for the entire company? How does the article's author know that everything this source said is true?
There are certainly issues at Crytek, as I've reported, but single-sourced anonymous reports can be misleading and harmful, which is why I didn't run anything about this story until I had a whole lot more than that.
The problem with reporting information from a single source is that it's all one person's perspective. How would one person know that every employee at the studio got payments of £700? Did this source ask all 90 employees about it? Was there a meeting where higher-ups said everyone would be paid £700? When this one source says there's low morale, is he/she really speaking for the entire company? How does the article's author know that everything this source said is true?
There are certainly issues at Crytek, as I've reported, but single-sourced anonymous reports can be misleading and harmful, which is why I didn't run anything about this story until I had a whole lot more than that.
PurpleEggRoll
Banned
EA might as well buy crytek, swing how they publish most of their games.
Sure, I'll admit that it doesn't sound very good. But are these costs predominant enough to warrant optimization ahead of more pressing unnecessary costs? I mean, sure they might be overspending tens of thousands of dollars on stupid things like travel arrangements every year, but what does that matter when they are bleeding millions?
Gamer @ Heart
Member
How did management think they could expand so quickly while gambling on becoming F2P.
800 people and 8 studios is crazy for the company they are.
800 people and 8 studios is crazy for the company they are.
dragonelite
Member
Im not even sure, I think crytek won't sell the tech but will probably shut down their game studio's after their games are released or finished.
GungHo
Single-handedly caused Exxon-Mobil to sue FOX, start World War 3
That issue will resolve itself in very short order if they can't even cover payroll. I feel bad for the families involved. I hope nothing has gone on that would taint perceptions and keep these guys from getting other jobs.
Metallix87
Member
Everyone wants money in the end. Microsoft will pay big to get what they want, albeit not as much as you'd expect given the state of things.
Wait... So, they can't quit for 3 months, but they also aren't being paid?
I thought slavery was illegal...
Role changes without pay grade changes?
All the time I'm afraid. And as ever, the devil is in the detail. It's a cynical way to put more responsibility on someone's shoulders for the same money, or indeed change their employment contract.
I'd be more surprised if anyone below senior management who works for a UK corporate hasn't seen this in the workplace. Happened to me. Twice. Once while employed by a major high street bank.
shacklesmcgee
Member
Is this more reliable? http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-06-26-cryteks-ryse-2-canned-as-financial-struggle-spreads-to-shanghai
Eurogamer is a bigger name, but they use "most people connected with the company Eurogamer spoke with" and "two people close with the studio" so I'm not sure.
They might not have to. If Crytek is borrowing heavily from the bank, what happens when they default on the loans? The publishers are going to start circling soon if things don't improve.
It's looking like 38 studios all over again
.
Metallix87
Member
Yeah, exactly. Microsoft likely gets the IPs and the tech dirt cheap, but I could see them paying big for a total buyout.
Totally unenforceable since the company already breached employment terms by not paying in full. Trouble is it's an employers market which puts pressure on people to put up with this kind of abuse.
Mashin Haters
Member
Homefront is going to have a bad development cycle. The games gonna come out unfinished i just know.
Barack Lesnar
Banned
What happened to all that revenue they were getting from "military contracts" and stuff outside of their gaming projects? I knew there was something fishy about that. How much could they really get from those contracts?
It's a shame in the end. So much seems to be relying on a sequel to Homefront, which is about as dire as it gets. I liked Homefront's campaign and the fact that the sequel is open world has me interested but damn I don't see it doing incredibly well. I hope it does. Crysis 1 and 2 were both great games. Crysis 3 was too short with a poor story that I don't even remember anymore. At least with Crysis 2 I remember the story and characters, despite it being kinda out there. I'm guessing Ryse needed to sell millions to really help them out.
It's a shame in the end. So much seems to be relying on a sequel to Homefront, which is about as dire as it gets. I liked Homefront's campaign and the fact that the sequel is open world has me interested but damn I don't see it doing incredibly well. I hope it does. Crysis 1 and 2 were both great games. Crysis 3 was too short with a poor story that I don't even remember anymore. At least with Crysis 2 I remember the story and characters, despite it being kinda out there. I'm guessing Ryse needed to sell millions to really help them out.
Quite a bit I'd imagine. Simulations for vehicles/weapons/prototypes are in high demand as technology becomes increasingly important for the military.
The hell happened in 2010?
Not necessarily. Paying their staff would require much more than traveling coach, and cutting face-to-face meetings out altogether might come at a much greater cost in the long-run.
Barack Lesnar
Banned
Certainly not enough to offset their expansion and the bombing of these games.
Sounds like expanding too fast is their biggest problem:
eurogamer
bonesmccoy
Banned
Schreier's completely right. Putting together a piece like this based upon a single, uncorroborated source is very, very irresponsible.
And wow at that revenue growth.
And wow at that revenue growth.
Triggerhappytel
Member
I dunno man:
Crysis - a clever publisher would buy this and make another in the vein of the first game, and they'd have a pretty strong 3-5 million seller on their hands.
Ryse - I'm sure MS would pick this up to bolster their catalogue. I'm sure there are plenty of developers out there who could make a cheaper sequel than Crytek, like Ninja Theory or Platinum.
TimeSplitters - again, I think this could be good but the publisher needs to understand its limits. Make it a fun, fast $20 digital game like Call of Juarez Gunslinger or FC3 Blood Dragon and it would find its place in the market.
Homefront - I don't think the brand has any mindshare or relevance, but the footage shown so far has looked pretty impressive. I'm sure there are a few publishers who would happily pick this up along with Crytek UK.
Warface - I honestly know nothing about this, so can't comment either way. Doesn't seem to have been much of a success.
Lastly and, of course, most importantly, Flibble: Flick and Roll. I'm sure publishers would be scrambling to pick this one up.
Whitechocolatekrispies
Banned
Eurogamer's story cites multiple sources. Develop -- the outlet linked in OP -- appears to only have one, which is very dangerous.
doniewhalberg
Member
Yea, maybe man! To be fair, I forgot about Timesplitters.
I guess maybe it's too far gone, but perhaps it would be wise to let MS have the Rpse IP and live to see another day, rather than see the company go down in flames? Although, from the reports, it maybe seems like things would have reached this point anyway.
badcrumble
Member
Bummer if they get bought by any first-party console holder. I want CryEngine to compete with UE4 on the third-party engine market so we get better- and more-varied-looking games.
I'm sorry, if you aren't able to pay your employees any extra expenses should be terminated in order to do so. The ship seems to be sinking.
Whatever money that is coming in is going towards the bosses paychecks still.
It's going towards flights and other expenditures.
The people who aren't getting paid are the actual workers and some positions it seems they are being forced to stay if they want to quit.
On top of that, they've seemed to have had avenues to bring in needed money by selling IP's which they refuse to do.
They are doing everything they can to NOT pay their employees. Also their long run looks pretty moot....face to face meetings aren't turning the tide either way.
I don't think Crytek is a great company, but they certainly aren't the worst. I'm speaking strictly from a games standpoint here. Anything that is mismanaged this poorly is not long for this world, though. It never ceases to amaze me how people can run companies into the ground like this.