Crytek Halts Crysis 4, Lays Off Up to 60 Employees

Crytek, a renowned game developer, has announced layoffs that will impact 60 of its 400 employees. This decision comes amidst challenging market conditions that have affected the gaming industry in recent years. In a tweet, Crytek acknowledged that despite the growth of their popular game, Hunt: Showdown, the company could not "continue as before and remain financially sustainable." As a result, they have put Crysis 4 "on hold" since late 2024 and shifted staff to focus on Hunt: Showdown, aiming to reduce costs and operating expenses. However, these efforts were not enough to prevent the layoffs, which have affected 15% of their workforce across various development teams and shared services. Crytek has committed to providing severance packages to those affected.

Avni Yerli, the founder of Crytek, released a statement emphasizing the difficult nature of the decision and expressing gratitude for the hard work of their teams. He explained that after pausing the development of the next Crysis game in Q3 2024, the company tried to reassign developers to Hunt: Showdown 1896. Despite the game's growth, Crytek found it necessary to proceed with layoffs to ensure financial sustainability. Yerli reaffirmed the company's belief in its future, particularly with Hunt: Showdown 1896, and their commitment to expanding and enhancing this title while continuing to develop their engine, CRYENGINE.

Last year, it was revealed that Crytek had been working on a battle royale-inspired project called Crysis Next, but early gameplay footage leaked on YouTube showed it was in the early stages, featuring third-person shooting in a basic arena with Crysis' distinctive abilities and sound effects. Although Crysis Next was never officially announced, it was ultimately canceled in favor of Crysis 4, which was announced in January 2022.

The Crysis series, known for its stunning visuals, innovative nanosuit abilities, and open-ended gameplay, has been a significant part of Crytek's portfolio. The original Crysis, released in 2007, became a benchmark for PC performance, leading to the popular phrase, "But can it run Crysis?" which became a standard for evaluating PC capabilities. The last mainline entry, Crysis 3, was released in February 2013. Since then, Crytek has released remasters of the original games, but there has been little news about Crysis 4 following its announcement and teaser three years ago.