Sad news has arrived at the end of the year for developers working under Crytek. In a recent press release, the German publisher announced that it would be moving forward with only two studios - the headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany and a single satellite studio in Kiev, Ukraine. In addition to maintaining its Cryengine development for other developers, the Kiev location will continue to support Warface on the PC, though the game's console future continues to look bleak.
Crytek Co-Founder and Managing Director, Avni Yerli, had this to say:
“Undergoing such transitions is far from easy, and we’d like to sincerely thank each and every staff member – past and present – for their hard work and commitment to Crytek. These changes are part of the essential steps we are taking to ensure Crytek is a healthy and sustainable business moving forward that can continue to attract and nurture our industry’s top talent. The reasons for this have been communicated internally along the way. Our focus now lies entirely on the core strengths that have always defined Crytek – world-class developers, state-of-the-art technology and innovative game development, and we believe that going through this challenging process will make us a more agile, viable, and attractive studio, primed for future success.”
While it's not clear yet if the studios will actually be closed or if they will manage to survive on their own without Crytek's support, the studios in Budapest (Hungary), Sofia (Bulgaria), Seoul (South Korea), Shanghai (China), and Istanbul (Turkey) will be gravely affected by this news.