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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