Wednesday, December 14th 2016

Crytek's Woes Not Finished - Renowned Developer Not Paying Wages Again

Renowned games studio Crytek hasn't left the ropes yet - and the situation is again looking dire for the company. After a rough 2014 that saw multiple upcoming games being canceled (with a sequel to the graphical masterpiece Ryse being canned at this time) and employees not getting paid for months at a time, only the sale of franchises and assets (Homefront's IP to Deep Silver, for one), as well as a licensing deal with Amazon for their Crytek engine (worth $70 million), managed to save the company. At the time, employees put the blame on less than solid management decisions towards pushing the company as a free-to-play powerhouse, blaming the management for poor handling of the studio's transition towards that form of monetization. However, efforts to stay afloat seem to have been little more than a small lifeboat for the company.
Recently, reports from inside the studio guarantee that wages are not being paid properly again, with salaries over the course of 2016 having been delayed several months or not paid at all. According to Kotaku, staff in Crytek's main office in Frankfurt, Germany have not received checks in nearly three months. And apparently, Crytek management informed the staff last Friday that the company was trying to secure funding from various sources- through loans and perhaps asset sales - but had not yet succeeded. People from Crytek's other studios in Budapest and Sofia have also reported missing payments, while Crytek's Glassdoor is full of complaints about the company not paying staff on time.
Recently, the company released two high-quality, VR-centric games in "Robinson: The Journey" and "The Climb", with copious amounts of the studios' liquidity flowing to these two projects. I can't certainly be called an expert in this matters, and I clearly don't have the full picture for why and how these decisions were made; that said, I do find it disconcerting that a studio would put so many resources behind two games developed for a frankly immature ecosystem, where the user base isn't, apparently, capable of absorbing this kind of releases in volume enough to generate tidy profits. Jumping into the VR bandwagon so soon and so deeply may have been another crucial misstep for the company's management, akin to the free-to-play blunder that landed the company in trouble in 2014. I hope the signs aren't definite, and I hope that I'm wrong, because if there ever was a studio focused on pushing the boundaries of graphics and their game design, it's Crytek.
Source: Kotaku
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45 Comments on Crytek's Woes Not Finished - Renowned Developer Not Paying Wages Again

#1
DeathtoGnomes
"immature ecosystem" is an understatement. I agree tho I think it its pretty stupid to push out 2 games instead of just one and keep a few eggs in the basket.
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#2
HisDivineOrder
After your employer doesn't pay you for months, you leave. You don't stay around long enough to have it happen to you again.

Also, if Crytek would finally realize that they have to make another Crysis game to return to profitability, well... then they'd make some money.
Posted on Reply
#3
Ubersonic
You could say, they're having a funding Crysis.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah!
Posted on Reply
#4
R-T-B
HisDivineOrderAfter your employer doesn't pay you for months, you leave. You don't stay around long enough to have it happen to you again.
Depends on the employees level of desperation. I think it's safe to say they are pulling from the most desperate levels of talent at this point.
Also, if Crytek would finally realize that they have to make another Crysis game to return to profitability, well... then they'd make some money.
True, but that would imply good management, which doesn't seem to be the case here.
Posted on Reply
#5
qubit
Overclocked quantum bit
Hang on, I thought this kind of work for the mighty Crytek was developers' passion so they didn't need paying?
/sarcasm
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#7
Ungari
Star Citizen has had nothing but problems going with Crytek.
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#8
rtwjunkie
PC Gaming Enthusiast
UngariStar Citizen has had nothing but problems going with Crytek.
SC didn't go with Crytek. They chose Cryengine 3 or 4 (4 I think) as their game engine, something which gets licensed. Crytek is no longer involved after that.

Also, I have not heard them blame the long development time on their choice of game engine. I'm pretty sure it is because of the size and complexity of the project, and has not been unanticipated.
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#9
Ungari
The base of Star Citizen is a modified Crytek engine.
There are many developers who have stated that they should have chosen Unreal.
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#10
rtwjunkie
PC Gaming Enthusiast
UngariThe base of Star Citizen is a modified Crytek engine.
There are many developers who have stated that they should have chosen Unreal.
I just said Cryengine (that is its name). And these other developers are not making SC, so what would they know?

I'm well aware of the personal vendetta you have against SC because you think they are taking too long. You started an entire other thread on the subject that eventually got shut down.
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#11
R-T-B
UngariThe base of Star Citizen is a modified Crytek engine.
There are many developers who have stated that they should have chosen Unreal.
Meh, as a developer, you can't blame Crytek for that. Engine is just an engine. The management should purchase one that fits their needs, not just look at one and go "ooh shiny" and buy it. That sounds more like what happened.
rtwjunkieI just said Cryengine (that is its name). And these other developers are not making SC, so what would they know?

I'm well aware of the personal vendetta you have against SC because you think they are taking too long. You started an entire other thread that eventually got shut down.
Sounded to me like he was actually trying to blame Crytek here.
Posted on Reply
#12
rtwjunkie
PC Gaming Enthusiast
R-T-BSounded to me like he was actually trying to blame Crytek here.
Exactly, which is why I felt compelled to respond.
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#13
Ungari
One reason Chris Roberts chose Crytek was because his last game was criticized for the graphics.

The reason my SC thread was locked was because many reported the thread simply because they disagreed with the opinions expressed by various Backers and myself.

What is this, the Soviet Union?
Posted on Reply
#14
rtwjunkie
PC Gaming Enthusiast
UngariOne reason Chris Roberts chose Crytek was because his last game was criticized for the graphics.
Once again, Crytek is a studio. He did not choose Crytek. He chose Cryengine, their product, which they licensed to his company.
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#15
Ungari
rtwjunkieOnce again, Crytek is a studio. He did not choose Crytek. He chose Cryengine, their product, which they licensed to his company.
Semantics? He chose Crytek's game engine and licensed support.
Posted on Reply
#16
R-T-B
UngariWhat is this, the Soviet Union?
A privately run forum (not allowed in the Soviet Union, I might add).
licensed support
This basically means "we will fix bugs with our product that affect your development." It does not mean they will teach you to program with it.
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#17
Nabarun
Man I hope Warface doesn't get canned. It's the ONLY game I play with my on-cpu graphics. Crytec's management do seem to have sh1t for brains. They introduced a ping limit and made many players leave the game. Also, the pve missions rarely get any new stuff. And cheats have plagued the game.
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#18
LiveOrDie
Unreal gives away money crytek cant even pay wages lol, maybe if there engine wasn't a pig to work with more devs would use it.
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#19
Totally
ZeppMan217The EA curse
EA still pays their people, if it was the curse they would've been shut down and parted out to the wolves at the first signs of trouble.
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#20
ShurikN
HisDivineOrderAlso, if Crytek would finally realize that they have to make another Crysis game to return to profitability, well... then they'd make some money.
Why? Apart from graphics all of the Crysis games were mediocre at best. A 4th Crysis game wouldn't save them.
Posted on Reply
#21
ADHDGAMING
UbersonicYou could say, they're having a funding Crysis.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah!
lol Management may have to put their ... WarFace
Posted on Reply
#22
yogurt_21
ShurikNWhy? Apart from graphics all of the Crysis games were mediocre at best. A 4th Crysis game wouldn't save them.
your opinion of the franchise does not change the sales figures. I don't like Justin Bieber, that doesn't change the fact he's very successful, so much so he could buy and sell me many times over.

Another crysis game would save them especially if people thought it would be their last.

Also I agree with HisDivineOrder on the employment as well. 2014, shame on crytek, still there when it happens again in 2016? shame on the employees. They should have jumped ship to another studio and crytek should have closed when no one capable of making a game wanted to work for them.

Then the IP and Brand could be sold to someone more capable. That is the nature of the gaming business.
Posted on Reply
#23
Prima.Vera
ShurikNWhy? Apart from graphics all of the Crysis games were mediocre at best. A 4th Crysis game wouldn't save them.
I thought the first Crysis game was very good. Inspired after Far Cry 1, with jungles in North Korea (lol! WTF??), but good nevertheless.
Posted on Reply
#24
rtwjunkie
PC Gaming Enthusiast
Prima.VeraI thought the first Crysis game was very good. Inspired after Far Cry 1, with jungles in North Korea (lol! WTF??), but good nevertheless.
Well, it was a jungle in the mid-Pacific, on an island that NK was laying claim to. So jungle makes sense.
Posted on Reply
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