Game developer Crytek closes five studios

Crytek, creator of the CryEngine and games like Crysis, is closing five of its development studios. The headquarters in Frankfurt and a studio in Kiev will remain. The decision comes after rumors of arrears and financial difficulties.

In a press release, Crytek announced that in the future the company will focus on developing ‘innovative games’ and its CryEngine. The company will do this in its studios in Frankfurt and Kiev, all other departments will be closed. In concrete terms, this means that Crytek will close its studios in Budapest, Sofia, Seoul, Shanghai and Istanbul.

The company says closing the studios is necessary to keep the company financially healthy. According to Crytek, the changes will not affect developers licensed to use the CryEngine.

In recent weeks there have been rumors that Crytek has been unable to pay its employees since May. Eurogamer states that employees have already received their money and that the salaries have been paid by Mail.ru, which is planning to take over the free-to-play shooter Warface from Crytek. Mail.ru and Crytek have not disclosed anything about this yet.

The German Crytek was founded in 1999 and made a name for itself in 2004 with the first Far Cry game. In 2007 the studio released the first part in the Crysis series, the last part of which appeared in 2013 with Crysis 3. In recent years, the company has mainly focused on VR games; it made The Climb for the Oculus Rift and Robinson The Journey for the PlayStation VR.