Crytek has been in the news quite a bit lately, mainly due to reports of its staff not being paid, and a number of high-profile departures. CEO Cevat Yerli has finally spoken out, and has reassured people in an interview with Eurogamer, that the company is “absolutely” safe.
Yerli has confirmed that Crytek has undergone a “transformation” financially and strategically. The company has reorganized and shifted its focus towards games services. It seems that the lack of salary payments stemmed from “diminished capital resources,” which he claims was a result of the additional investment that was required for the transformation. With reference to the sale of the Homefront IP to Koch Media, he said that it was a “win/win” situation for all as the focus required for the IP would have been “detrimental” to the transition.
When asked why employees were not paid, Yerli said that it was only a “delay” rather than a lack of payment and that the company could either delay payments or pay them and file for insolvency. The management then considered the “better of the two bad decisions.”
Some people were very impatient and got angry at the smallest delay. Also, there was a critique of us not being proactive in communication, which we don’t understand, because we had been frequently in the UK as well as every other studio, talking about potentially rough times. And we had even shared with people how they should maybe work with different banks at a personal level to prepare. Or, if not, they could make a choice to resign and look for other jobs.
With reference to Ryse: Son of Rome, Yerli said that he is not “100% happy” with the Xbox One sales. However, Ryse 2 is still in the cards and PlayStation 4 can be considered for a sequel, too.
We can do whatever we want with it with whoever we want.
What do you make of Yerli’s comments? Are you convinced that Crytek is finally safe now?
[Source: Eurogamer]
