Crytek, facing challenging market conditions, announced layoffs impacting approximately 15% of its 400-person workforce, totaling 60 employees. While their game, Hunt: Showdown, continues to grow, the company stated that maintaining its current operational structure is financially unsustainable.
Despite pausing development on Crysis 4 in late 2024 and shifting resources to Hunt: Showdown to reduce costs, layoffs became unavoidable. The cuts affect various development teams and shared services. Crytek founder Avni Yerli issued a statement expressing regret and confirming severance packages and career support for affected employees.
Yerli emphasized Crytek's commitment to Hunt: Showdown's ongoing development and expansion, along with continued support for their CRYENGINE. The announcement follows the cancellation of a previously unannounced battle royale-inspired Crysis project, Crysis Next, in favor of Crysis 4, which was officially announced in January 2022.
The Crysis franchise, renowned for its visually stunning graphics, innovative nanosuit abilities, and open-world gameplay, has a legacy dating back to 2007. The original Crysis became a PC benchmark, famously spawning the phrase "But can it run Crysis?" The last mainline entry, Crysis 3, launched in 2013, with remasters of earlier titles released more recently. News regarding Crysis 4 has been scarce since its initial announcement and teaser trailer three years prior.