Crysis 4 Development Paused Amid Crytek Layoffs Impacting 60 Employees

Crytek, the renowned game developer behind the Crysis series and Hunt: Showdown, has announced a significant round of layoffs affecting 60 out of its 400 employees. This move comes as the company grapples with financial sustainability amidst challenging market dynamics.

In a recent tweet, Crytek acknowledged the growth of Hunt: Showdown but stated that it could not "continue as before and remain financially sustainable." The layoffs, impacting 15% of the workforce, were described as "inevitable" despite efforts to reduce costs and operating expenses. The layoffs span across Crytek's development teams and shared services, with the company committing to providing severance packages to affected employees.

Crytek founder Avni Yerli released a statement detailing the difficult decision:

Like so many of our peers, we aren’t immune to the complex, unfavorable market dynamics that have hit our industry these past several years. It pains me greatly to share today that we must lay off an estimated 15% of our around 400 employees. The layoffs affect development teams and shared services.

This has not been an easy decision to make, as we deeply appreciate the hard work of our talented teams. After putting the development of the next Crysis game on hold in Q3 2024, we have been trying to shift developers over to Hunt: Showdown 1896.

While Hunt: Showdown 1896 is still growing, Crytek cannot continue as before and remain financially sustainable. Even after ongoing efforts to reduce costs and cut operating expenses, we have determined that layoffs are inevitable to move forward. Crytek will offer affected employees severance packages and career assistance services.

We firmly believe in the future of Crytek. With Hunt: Showdown 1896, we have a very strong gaming service and remain fully committed to its operation. We will continue to expand and evolve Hunt: Showdown 1896 with great content and drive our strategy for our engine CRYENGINE.

Last year, it was revealed that Crytek had been working on a battle royale-inspired Crysis project, codenamed Crysis Next, when early gameplay footage surfaced on YouTube. The footage showcased third-person shooting in a basic warm-up arena, featuring Crysis' signature abilities and sound effects. Although Crysis Next was never officially announced, it was eventually canceled in favor of Crysis 4, which was announced in January 2022.

The Crysis series, known for its stunning visuals, innovative nanosuit powers, and open-ended gameplay, first debuted in 2007. The original Crysis became a benchmark for PC performance due to its high system requirements, leading to the popular phrase, "But can it run Crysis?" This phrase became a shorthand for evaluating PC specifications in the years following the game's release.

The most recent mainline entry, Crysis 3, was released in February 2013. Crytek has since released remasters of the original games, but there has been little news about Crysis 4 since its announcement and teaser three years ago.