Wednesday, 30 July 2014 14:26

Crytek Sells off Homefront, Lays Off Staff in the UK and US: What was that about a secure financial future?

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Hey, remember that very upbeat and positive message that Crytek put out about securing their financial future? Well let’s just say that the happy smiles and positive tone that were in the message might have been hiding some not so good thing. According to new information from Crytek the money to stay afloat has come from selling off an IP that they just purchased not that long ago.

That’s right, after buying Homefront right from THQ Crytek has announced that they are selling them off to Deep Silver. Deep Silver will be creating a new development studio to finish out the work needed on Homefront: The Revolution. The reasons for this move is to get some cash back in the coffers and it will also allow Crytek to shift some operating expenses away from the beleaguered Crytek UK office. Deep Silver will be getting the developers that were working on the new game. This could mean that the Crytek UK office might not remain open.

Crytek UK is not the only part of the company that will be affected though. It seems that staff in Austin, Texas will be laid off as part of a restructuring initiative. The staff will be cut down to a few employees to help supporting CryEngine in North America. The projects that were being handled by the Austin team will move to Frankfurt to be completed.

Crytek is still pursuing their goal of being an online games publisher, but we have to wonder if this is a good thing for them. They have gone through some rather large financial troubles and are now in the process of closing offices, laying off staff and selling IP. They have also entered in a more strategic partnership with Koch Media. Koch also is the parent company for Deep Silver, which makes sense in the long run.

In the end we are wondering how long Crytek will stay an independent company. If things continue the way they are they could end up being folded into Koch in some form or another and disappear like so many others have. It is a shame to see this especially when this comes from a desire to push games to the internet and not just from wanting to make better games…

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Read 2995 times Last modified on Wednesday, 30 July 2014 15:18

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