Photorealism juggernaut Crytek faces more problems, as rumors spread that Homefront: The Revolution‘s game director Hasit Zala has allegedly quit the company.
Crytek, famous for its CryEngine, the original Far Cry, Crysis, and Ryse: Son of Rome, faces another round of allegations regarding its inability to pay its staff. According to Kotaku, “some 100 people have left over the past three months.”
Zala is not the only major name to leave Crytek, either; UK development manager Ben Harris left earlier this month. Karl Hilton, however, confirmed to Kotaku that he will be remaining with Crytek, though he is leaving his role as studio head.
Though the company remains around 800-strong, Zala’s resignation is yet another case of upper management leaving what seems to be a company in dire financial straits. In addition to being the game director for Homefront: The Revolution, Zala was also the franchise director for their free-to-play shooter Warface. The free-to-play model, and the company’s rapid expansion - which saw it purchasing a large number of development studios and IPs in a short period of time - may be at the center of Crytek’s problems. With Crytek developing more free-to-play titles such as the upcoming Arena of Fate, the multinational company is struggling against several well-adapted competitors, instead of focusing on their traditional $60 titles. It’s also no secret that CryEngine hasn’t seen widespread adoption among developers, who have traditionally opted either for Unreal Engine 4 or Unity as
There’s no more information on how Crytek plans to address these issues; all we can do is hope that they don’t suffer the same fate as THQ.
Joe Yang
@yaochongyang
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