Monday, 28 July 2014 15:12

Crytek Blames Financial Trouble on Transition to Online Publisher, Says Things are All Better

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Over the past few months there have been more than a few articles about Crytek and its financial stability. We have heard many rumors including one that claimed they (Crytek) were unable to pay their employees. These rumors have come from multiple sources and appear to be backed up by more than a few key players leaving the company.

However, according to Crytek all of those worries are in the past. They claim to have secured the future of the company in both the short and long term. In an public announcement they have stated:

“In recent weeks, there have been repeated reports and rumors relating to financial problems at Crytek. Having already given an update to staff across all our studios, we are now in a position to share more details with members of the press and public.
Internally, we have acknowledged that the flow of information to employees has not been as good as it should have, however we hope you understand that communicating details of our plans publicly has not always been possible.”

This seems to be a tacit acknowledgement of some of the issues reported, but there is nothing concrete to go on. We do know that Crytek has made sure to cover those rumors in the press release even if they do not go into specifics. The PR goes on to say:

“Like the games industry as a whole, Crytek has been in a transitional phase. Our evolution from a development studio to an Online-Publisher has required us to refocus our strategies. These challenges go along with an increased demand for capital which we have secured.
We can now concentrate on the long term strategic direction of Crytek and our core competencies. We kindly ask for your understanding, that we won't be communicating further details about our developments and progress.
Ultimately, with our organization, capitalization, portfolio and technologies we have now laid the foundations for securing Crytek's future - not just in the short term, but also long term.”

Note that they are admitting to funding issues here by blaming them on their transition from a development studio to a publisher. It is true that these two business models are not adjacent and can require additional money to get going, but that is something that Crytek should have planned for as they made the transition. If it really is a case of this move having a bigger impact than planned for it brings questions about Crytek’s ability to properly operate as a publisher.

In the end we hope that Crytek really is on the road back to recovery and they have identified (and resolved) their mistakes. If not we could see a repeat of this situation in a few months. This is despite the claims that Crytek is making.

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Read 3104 times Last modified on Monday, 28 July 2014 15:15

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