Crytek lays off employees and discontinues "Crysis 4"

"Crysis 4" is being scrapped: Frankfurt-based studio Crytek has scrapped the development of its new first-person shooter. In addition, 60 of the 400 employees will be laid off, Crytek announced in a post on the platform X. The 60 redundant employees – Crytek writes of 15 percent of its 400-strong workforce – are to receive severance packages.

In fact, work on "Crysis 4" was already discontinued in the third quarter of 2024, Crytek writes in the post. Developers who had worked on the new "Crysis" part were then involved in the further development of the first-person shooter "Hunt: Showdown 1896", which has been on the market since 2019. This was previously unknown.

"Although 'Hunt: Showdown 1896' is still growing, Crytek cannot continue as before to remain financially viable," Crytek now writes. "Even after continued efforts to reduce costs and operating expenses, we have determined that layoffs are unavoidable."

Full focus on "Hunt: Showdown"

While the development of "Crysis 4" is being discontinued, the Frankfurt-based development studio is fighting for "Hunt: Showdown". They believe in the future of the title, which should continue to grow. "Hunt: Showdown" is a so-called live service title that is regularly supplied with new content and repeatedly generates revenue through the sale of in-game boosts and items.

Crytek announced "Crysis 4" in January 2022. The first three 'Crysis' parts helped Crytek achieve international renown, and the graphics of the in-house CryEngine were considered groundbreaking. But even before "Crysis" became the benchmark for gaming graphics, Crytek made a name for itself with the first "Far Cry" title.

Crytek also marketed its CryEngine to other development studios, but recently it has rarely been used. However, a prominent exception has just been released: the medieval role-playing game "Kingdom Come Deliverance 2" was developed using CryEngine 5.

(dahe)