There are multiple factors:
- Higher staff costs
- They canceled a project and had to write-down 6,3 million Euros for that.
- and some stuff I don't understand :S
-
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Crytek UK staff not paid full wages since April and more
- Thread starter dmr87
- Start date
- Higher staff costs
- They canceled a project and had to write-down 6,3 million Euros for that.
Visualante2
Member
I really doubt there is much of the old Free Radical left there any more.. It really is on employees to stand up for their rights.
shacklesmcgee
Member
Thanks Jason. i just can't figure out how something can stay hidden so long
Once again, this smells like complete and utter leadership failure.
GG Yerli & Co. That's what happens when the business model becomes the focus of a games company instead of the actual games.
For some reason I think of Crytek as the antithesis to CD Project. At some point within the past few years both were in similar positions but Crytek chose to chase the mass market for short-term profits and pursued uncertain fad-business strategies like F2P while CD Project focused on their strengths and creative visions. The latter company grew slowly but also in a very safe and grounded fashion. Crytek blew up like a bubble and are now about to implode.
GG Yerli & Co. That's what happens when the business model becomes the focus of a games company instead of the actual games.
For some reason I think of Crytek as the antithesis to CD Project. At some point within the past few years both were in similar positions but Crytek chose to chase the mass market for short-term profits and pursued uncertain fad-business strategies like F2P while CD Project focused on their strengths and creative visions. The latter company grew slowly but also in a very safe and grounded fashion. Crytek blew up like a bubble and are now about to implode.
After the massive success of Far Cry 3, I think people are primed and ready for another open-world jungle shooter romp. Easy success.
XANDER CAGE
Member
Jesus, that three month "promotion" move is diabolical. Anyone who was confused about what the point of at-will employment was in those Bungie/Marty O'Donnell threads? This is the kind of situation where that kind of system is helpful.
Wiktor
Member
I hope that when Crytek goes down the Black Sea guys will stick together and reform under a new name, because it's a crime they never got to develop the ideas from Knights of Honor further. I doubt they would have much problems finding PC publisher willing to fund their strategy these days.
I can agree that companies need to adapt their size to the costs that they need to incur to keep the ball rolling. Then again, the video games industry is a peculiar business. If a project is projected to take X years of development for a Y-man workforce, then cutting the workforce will invariably delay development. If Crytek were to cut the workforce and delay the game the numbers might point to the studio toppling over before they can release a finished game (and make back some money), so they might deem it necessary to do some dick moves that employees will be complaining about (and rightly so) in a desperate attempt to survive, which would be preferable to a foreclosure where everyone will lose their jobs.
I can't speak for the decision to not sell some of their IP:s. Maybe management is staying optimistic and think that selling off their IPs will put them in a really bad spot once their financial problems are solved. Maybe the bidders of the IP are lowballing.
All in all, I personally know too little about the facts to say anything about Crytek. All I can say is that people should be aware that upper management is always in a 'damned if they do, damned if they don't' type of situation in times when the company that they are trying to run suddenly finds itself in a financially dire state. They very seldom actively try to put the company out of business, even if it might seem that way from the outside looking in.
Also, serious question, do we know only the upper management is being paid, or is that an assumption?
mangochutney
Member
3 months isn't too uncommon for more senior staff, mostly because if you wish to leave there is a high potential you are a single source for something, and it typically takes longer to replace you and may require a handover period.
I guess you could always turn up and do no work, play porn over loudspeaker and fart a lot until you are asked to leave immediately.
There isn't much that can offset poor management.
shinobi602
Member
Crytek Frankfurt isn't too affected by much of this just yet, but more than one Crytek dev told me much of the feeling internally is that the Yerli brothers are quite the incompetent leaders, a lot of times jumping from one idea to the next. There isn't a lot of faith in them and the direction they're going. Can't really say I blame them, shit's been going downhill fast.
Wiktor
Member
A lot of Crytek staff were in cheap parts of the world thugh. I think they just managed their projects badly and for some bizzare reason didn't diversify. They had pretty big success as PC exclusive dev and while expanding to consoles was a fine idea, they just threw the whole pc audience away. Then when console audience didn't deliver they started to throw everything into F2P. Instead of spreading their resources into multiple sectors and audiences, which would be a lot safer.
Look at Black Sea, such a great devloper. Small one, cheap to run and yet Knights of Honor sold over half a million copies. But since Crytek took them over they just been making scraps for other projects and no they make generic F2P Hunt? Blah.
Shitty collectibles for all!
Sad for all those poor Crytek employees
It sounds like the Yerli brothers really don't have much of a clue when it comes to management skills.
JCreasy
Member
Sorry
I hope Naughty Dog recruiters are snapping up talent over there as we SPEAK!
Get on that shit Naughty Dog! It's poaching season!
I agree. The point being that the reason for Crytek being in a bad spot right now is not because of comparatively small costs that could have been avoided, but because the company has been following the wrong development path and that has cost them millions as a result. They managed to make unique games with both Far Cry and Crysis, but homogenized their later games at the expense of people losing interest in their output.
Aretak
Member
I really can't see Microsoft being in for anything, other than perhaps the Ryse IP on the cheap. Why would they want the CryEngine tech? It's not it's ever really taken off with third parties. Only a handful of third party games have used it. I'm not even sure how valuable the Crysis IP is any more, given Crysis 3 was something of a flop (at least in EA's eyes). It's not like Microsoft are short of shooter IPs to call on either.
I just don't see why they'd want anything Crytek have, Ryse IP aside.
MS seemed to have signed a long term deal with Epic to license the Unreal engine. All of their current projects use UE4.
Pretty much. What has come out the last couple of years about that company hasn't been very good.
I could see EA scooping up Crysis (at the very least) if Crytek goes under.
Boy, that sounds like a great way to invest some money. A sure winner!
If Ryse 2 was indeed cancelled that will have left a huge hole in their finances.
If they do go to chopping block, someone with deep pockets aggressively looking for acquisitions will hopefully swoop in. Wargaming.net is the most obvious candidate if I was a betting man.
I do hope the Studios are saved, people have families to take care of, and whatever troubled Crytek may have had, the rank-and-file developers are hardly to blame.
If they do go to chopping block, someone with deep pockets aggressively looking for acquisitions will hopefully swoop in. Wargaming.net is the most obvious candidate if I was a betting man.
I do hope the Studios are saved, people have families to take care of, and whatever troubled Crytek may have had, the rank-and-file developers are hardly to blame.
wanderingprostheyltite
Member
So who do we have left once (if) Crysis tanks to deliver more beast rig slaying games?
I know those days are gone ;_;
rokkerkory
Member
Cry moar
this is just horrible, how can you run a business like this
this is just horrible, how can you run a business like this
Yeah I really feel for them. I think HUNT looks good, too.
I thought when Crytek announced it was going F2P that it'd change that stance before ever actually committing to it because it was just so late to the party, I didn't see it being sustainable for newcomers.
This makes me sad, because they've had so many chances to succeed, but it's been one head-scratching decision after another. From Crysis 2 being an unnecessary reboot of the series, to Ryse initially being a Kinect exclusive to abandoning AAA gaming and being entirely F2P after Homefront 2, I just always have questioned what they were thinking.
I could just imagine them poaching Crytek's graphic programmers. What insanity could ICE Team, Corrinne Yu and some of Crytek's graphic programmers cause.
Metallix87
Member
I think both the Ryse and Crysis IPs are worth acquiring. Maybe Homefront, too, depending on how far along the new game is. Also, TimeSplitters, possibly.
The CryEngine is likely not something they'd be super interested in, true, but I could see them snatching it up to avoid having to sign deals for engines in the future.
Honestly, I think there's also a LOT of talent there that Microsoft would like to get their hands on, too.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
i feel bad for tod pappy (the god of war ascension director) he quit Sony Santa Monica and moved to Germany to join Crytek. Talk about the worst choice ever
WOW! That sucks.
In my experience it's the other way around. Problem is, those cases don't make headlines. The cases you mention do though.
Windom Earle
Member
Crytek, we used to love you back in the good old PC days. What happened? Yes, even that mouthpiece Yerli and his useless brothers. Also used to drive Lamborghinis and other expensive cars back then. Probably still the case, I am sure they are not the ones who are suffering.
Dangoesforth
Member
In EU law it can come under pay discrimination as there needs to be equal pay for equal value.
justsomeguy
Member
Hah, job title promotions are an age old tactic ... People can always turn down the promotion if they want
Not Spaceghost
Spaceghost
You've been back for like a month and I didn't even notice ;__;
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Dictator93
Member
This in REAL-TIME!!!
They are on their way there. Sadly.. we may never see how far they go.
Tis a shame what has happened to Crytek over the years though. Their management decision making post Crysis 2 is baffling.
I'd bet it's more of a case of really bad management skills than scumbaggery.
CurlySaysX
Banned
Gaben should snap them up and release their entire catalogue on steam machines, finally we'll have hardware capable of running crysis.
This is not true, as I reported on Tuesday.
You really shouldn't make statements like "a lot of the feeling internally" without citing your sources. I like you, shinobi, but this is what I hate about GAF insiders. You don't think about the effects of what you're saying. Did you talk to someone who works at Crytek? Two people? Three people? Enough people to be able to definitively say something like "a lot of the feeling internally is that the Yerli brothers are quite the incompetent leaders"? You are making one hell of an accusation here -- do you really have the sources to back it up? The article in OP suffers from the same problem.
It's one thing to tweet or report rumors and vague bullshit about E3 pressers or framerates; it's quite another to make serious accusations that involve real people's jobs.
Triggerhappytel
Member
I love the series, but it's not suitable for a $60 price point. TS2 and Future Perfect proved that.
checkeredknight
Member
My buddy just got a job there on Monday, a day before all this stuff became public information. Really hoping it doesn't affect him. :/
shinobi602
Member
Two people, yes. Bish can talk to me if he'd like, I'm all open for it.
OK, so instead of saying something like "a lot of the feeling internally is that the Yerli brothers are quite the incompetent leaders," try "two Crytek employees tell me the feeling internally is that the Yerli brothers are quite the incompetent leaders." It might seem like an insignificant difference to you, but it's the difference between potential defamation and reporting what you've heard.