We have rumors that Crytek is in dire financial straits. This comes from Gamestar, a gaming magazine from the same country Crytek is based in, Germany. Gamestar says it boils down to two things: CryEngine and Ryse: Son of Rome.
Ryse was apparently a troubled production for everyone in Crytek. If you may remember, the game was subject to controversy on its own, one over the infamous work crunch tweet, and the requisite resolution framerate issue. Our source states that, contrary to Crytek’s own claims, the company was behind on production of the game, and had to outsource much of the work to ensure the game would come out on time. Of course, as we now know, the game was not the hit that either Microsoft or Crytek hoped.
IfRyse’s quality is questionable, however, the same could not be said of CryEngine, arguably one of the most impressive game engines we’ve seen for quite some time. This is not a matter to debate about; the engine is being used for upcoming titles like Evolve and Star Citizen.
In spite of these high profile clients, unfortunately, word of mouth was bad for the engine in this year’s GDC, so it seems that no one is buying the engine. Crytek has already released a free version of the engine for noncommercial work, and is infact undercutting Unreal by pricing a $ 10 subscription fee, so this seems to be purely a perception problem.
Crytek has dipped in popularity in recent years, but one less studio making high profile games is not great news for the volatile industry as it is. Of course, we are also hoping for the best for the staff over at Crytek. We await official word from the company and will let you know on the latest on this story.
Image is from Ryse: Son of Rome.
