Crytek has announced a need to lay off 15% of its workplace in the face of “complex, unfavourable market dynamics” within the global games industry. While the studio had reportedly attempted to reduce costs and cut operating expenses prior to the decision to lay off staff, this became the inevitable end to ensure sustainability.
As part of the changes undertaken by the studio, all work on Crysis 4 has reportedly ceased, with this decision being made in Q3 2024. Since then, developers have been shifted to work on Hunt: Showdown 1896, which will now become the primary focus of the studio.
“While Hunt: Showdown 1896 is still growing, Crytek cannot continue as before and remain financially sustainable,” the studio posted on X. “Even after ongoing efforts to reduce costs and cut operating expenses, we have determined that layoffs are inevitable to move forward.”
“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 expend and evolve Hunt: Showdown 1896 with great content and drive our strategy for our engine, CRYENGINE.”
Read: GDC reports 41% of all game developers were impacted by layoffs in 2024
As noted, those departing Crytek are from the game development and shared services teams. While an exact number was not revealed in the layoff announcement, Crytek did note it had around 400 employees – which would suggest around 60 employees are set to lose their jobs, or have already lost their jobs.
Crytek has pledged to provide severance packages and career assistance services to those departing – but the reality is those left without work are entering a very slim jobs market with few opportunities.
Per a recent GDC report, around 41% of all game developers were impacted by layoffs in some form in 2024, with many of those responding to a survey indicating they hadn’t yet been able to find new work. There have been thousands of layoffs in the games industry over the last 2-3 years, and while they have started to slow down, the impact on games industry employees hasn’t.
It’s incredibly tough out there right now. Our thoughts are with those employees now departing Crytek, who enter an industry that’s becoming smaller by the day.
