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Crytek addresses financial troubles, will focus on free-to-play games

Crytek is addressing long-running rumors of financial troubles, noting that they will step away from traditional game development in favor of focusing on free-to-play.

Ozzie Mejia

July 28, 2014 10:50 AM

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Times have been tough for Crytek, with studio sources citing financial difficulties back in June. The makers of Crysis have now stepped forward to assert their studio's stability. However, they added that they will begin shifting their focus towards self-published free-to-play games, a move that was foreshadowed by last month's rumored cancellation of four prototypes, including a sequel to Ryse: Son of Rome.

"Our evolution from a development studio to an online publisher has required us to refocus our strategies," a Crytek rep told Polygon. "These challenges go along with an increased demand for capital, which we have secured."

Previous reports had stated that Crytek employees were not being paid and that a significant number had exited the company. Crytek has admitted a lack of communication and attributes it to being unable to discuss future plans in public.

Crytek is currently working on Homefront: The Revolution in conjunction with Deep Silver, as well as free-to-play shooter, Warface. The studio's American branch recently announced Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age at E3.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?