I know that a lot of PC gamers hate Crytek for what it did to the Crysis series but let’s face it; this studio had a lot of potential. And when we say a lot, we mean A LOT. German videogames magazine “Gamestar” has reported that Crytek is in big trouble and that it may go bankrupt.
According to Gamestar, the adoption of CRYENGINE is not going well and the word-of-mouth at GDC was negative. Strangely enough, CRYENGINE is currently one of the most optimized engines, so Crytek should really look into its subscription prices otherwise this amazing engine may never be used by other triple-A developers.
Not only that, but Gamestar claims that the development of Ryse was catastrophic for the studio. Just mere months before its release, the game was severely behind and Crytek was able to complete it with additional manpower. And from what we’ve seen thus far, Ryse did not sell as good as Crytek hoped (especially for a console exclusive).
Things are definitely not looking good for Crytek and while Avni Yerli claimed that a cash injection for the company is finally imminent (with a contract to be signed really soon), a lot of big publishers are waiting for a possible bankrupt in order to sign the talent and shop the IPs from Crytek.
For what is worth, Wargaming is listed as a possible buyer of Crytek. If Wargaming does buys Crytek, we can kiss goodbye to all of the studio’s single-player games (as Wargaming is best known for its Free-To-Play games). In short, this may be the end of the Crytek we knew.
But what has happened and the team is facing this major financial issues? According to Yerli, there were “dramatized rumors” from disgruntled ex-employers, something that obviously had a negative impact to Crytek’s public image. Moreover, Gamestar reported that salaries were paid late and leading employees were sending applications to other studios at home and abroad. And if that wasn’t enough, Warface was only successful in Russia and Crytek’s G-face platform was a big flop.
In short, Crytek is currently in deep trouble and we don’t know whether the studio will be able to recover. And yes, PC gamers can now say to Crytek “We told you so, you had to keep Crysis exclusive to the PC and keep pushing the graphical boundaries.”
So yes, today you have the right to say that you told them so!
Released as an exclusive launch title for the Xbox One, Ryse: Son of Rome received mixed critical reaction from reviewers, being praised for its high production values but criticized for its repetitive and simple gameplay.
Ryse 2 was cancelled because of a conflict between Crytek and Microsoft over who would own the rights to the franchise. In exchange for funding Ryse 2's development, Microsoft wanted to take over the Ryse intellectual property, something Crytek couldn't agree to, so both parties decided not to continue.
