Crytek shuts down five studios

Crytek has shut down all of its studios outside of its Frankfurt and Kiev locations in order to ‘refocus’ on developing innovative games and game development technology.

The company says it will continue to develop and work on “premium IPs,” and that CryEngine will remain a “core pillar” of its overall strategy, with enterprise licensees and indie developers alike continuing to be served by regular engine updates.

All of the non-Frankfurt and Kiev development studios will not remain within Crytek and management has put plans into action to secure jobs and ensure a “smooth transition and stable future” for the staff.

The following studios were affected:

• Crytek Black Sea in Sofia, Bulgaria
• Crytek Budapest in Budapest, Hungary
• Crytek Istanbul in Istanbul, Turkey
• Crytek Seoul in Seoul, South Korea
• Crytek Shanghai in Shanghai, China

Here is a statement from Crytek co-founder and managing director Avni Yerli on the company changes: “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.”