• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Kotaku: Crytek Not Paying Staff On Time, Ryse Sequel Dropped

N

Nibel

Member
Maximum Lock if old

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.
Click to expand...

This is just the pinnacle; read more of JoJo Schreier's article here
 
daninthemix

daninthemix

Member
Well, if you're going to snobbishly insist on distributing through Origin rather than Steam, that is your comeuppance.

Sorry for the staffers, though.
 
C

chickdigger802

Banned
kinda wish they would do some other genres, i believe ryse is a step... but they are back to shooters again?

Would love to see some more fantasy stuff with cryengine. That mmo, aion?, was really gorgeous.


And jason was promoted to a Jojo now?
 
W

WaffleTaco

Wants to outlaw technological innovation.
If you have to cancel a game because you can't afford to make it, you may as well sell the IP.
 
Z

Zakalwe

Banned
I've never really been a fan of their output, but that doesn't mean I'd want them to fail. Always bad when people lose jobs, especially when it's messy like this.

Hope all the talented people find work, and the remainder of the company mange to rebuild themselves.

Would love to see them go back to pushing the boundaries on PC. Maybe this will be a rebirth of sorts.
 
R

razgriz417

Member
Great read, and yeah Crytek sounds like a mess right now. While Crysis 2 and 3 were super bland to me, didn't think they'd be chasing f2p games
 
E

efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
Not trying to come off as a back seat analyst, but I can't help but feel the company grew too fast for its own good, and is now paying the price.
 
U

unbias

Member
Maybe they will sell off Crysis and we can have a good storyline from here on out to match the eye candy(Really enjoyed 1 and warhead). Ryse was a let down though, beautiful game
that struggled to hold my attention. CryENGINE is pretty awesome as a whole too, so will be interesting to see what happens.
 
C

Cmerrill

You don't need to be empathetic towards me.
I've never played a game of theirs that I've enjoyed, expect the demo for the "Crysis 3" multiplayer - predator mode.
 
D

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
Feels like it should be highly illegal to not pay your employees for thee months. I would think there would be some kind of worker protection against that.
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
daninthemix said:
Well, if you're going to snobbishly insist on distributing through Origin rather than Steam, that is your comeuppance.

Sorry for the staffers, though.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that has absolutely nothing to do with it.
 
T

TharpDaddy

Member
That's a real shame. I've never been a fan of Crytek's games, but their engine has seemed solid. If they close that will also be a lot of jobs lost. Hope they can stick around.
 
V

Varg

Banned
Fuck... Ryse has amazing potential. Put many hours into that damn game. So we can assume Noktrnl's rumor about the next Ryse was true? Maybe it got pulled at the last second of e3 dye to this fiasco?
 
C

CosmicQueso

Member
Divvy said:
Feels like it should be highly illegal to not pay your employees for thee months. I would think there would be some kind of worker protection against that.
Click to expand...

If they don't have the money they don't have the money. How would you solve that issue?
 
G

Google

Member
daninthemix said:
Well, if you're going to snobbishly insist on distributing through Origin rather than Steam, that is your comeuppance.
Click to expand...

What? It's probably just a distribution deal worked out with EA. They more than likely got a better deal than going with Steam and their retail partners are not the reason they're struggling financially.

What a weird comment.
 
C

Crisco

Banned
Wow, the Factor 5 / Lair comparisons become more and more apt. It's sad, because Crysis was actually a very good game, but after that all they made was tech demos.
 
G

Gbraga

Member
I hope it doesn't negatively impact Vigil's game.

Also, jschreier is a JoJo now? Journalism is unbreakable?
 
U

unbias

Member
I found this part interesting:

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.)
Click to expand...

Curious what will become of this.
 
N

Netherscourge

Banned
Crytek's problem is that they can't decide if they want to sell GAMES or a GAME ENGINE.

Most of their games come off as Demos for that engine.

They should really commit to one or the other. But they have so much competition with other engines and other FPS shooters, that they are really in a bind.

RYSE would have been a nice off-shoot game using the engine, but it was so horribly planned out and rushed that it'll likely not develop a good enough of a following to be profitable.

At this point, they should just focus 100% on Crysis/Far Cry and stop trying to sell the engine itself.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
Great article, Jason.

Ryse:
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.)
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Crytek Asks About Ryse: Son Of Rome, Gets Huge Response From Xbox Fans - "Please bring it back"
News Game Dev 2
87
5K
digoutyoursoul replied
[Insider Gaming] Inside Ubisoft – From Low Morale To Internal Tensions
Game Dev
26
2K
BacklashWave534 replied
Ubisoft cuts 124 jobs worldwide, including nearly 100 in Canada
News Business
22
2K
Drizzlehell replied
[Windows Central]Embracer Group is showcasing the dangers of irresponsible consolidation, which stands in stark contrast to Xbox.
Opinion News 2
80
7K
GHG replied
IGN: Ubisoft Montreal is currently in Turmoil
Game Dev 2 3 4 5 6
290
16K
Reaseru replied
Top Bottom