Crysis 4 ‘On Hold’ as Developer Crytek Announces Layoffs Affecting Up to 60 Staff

Crytek, the renowned game development company, has announced layoffs affecting 60 of its 400 employees, which represents 15% of its workforce. In a recent tweet, Crytek acknowledged that despite the growth of their popular game, Hunt: Showdown, the company could no longer "continue as before and remain financially sustainable." This decision comes after the company put the development of Crysis 4 on hold in late 2024, shifting staff to work on Hunt: Showdown in an effort to reduce costs and operating expenses. Despite these measures, layoffs became "inevitable."

The layoffs have impacted staff across Crytek's development teams and shared services. Crytek has committed to providing severance packages to the affected employees. In a full statement, Crytek founder Avni Yerli expressed the difficulty of this decision, citing the challenging market dynamics facing the gaming industry. He noted the efforts to transition developers from the paused Crysis 4 project to Hunt: Showdown 1896, which continues to grow but isn't enough to sustain the company's previous operational model.

Yerli emphasized Crytek's belief in its future, highlighting their commitment to Hunt: Showdown 1896 and their engine, CRYENGINE. The company plans to keep expanding and evolving Hunt: Showdown 1896 with new content.

Last year, leaked footage of an early battle royale-inspired Crysis project, codenamed Crysis Next, surfaced on YouTube. The footage showcased third-person shooting in a basic warm-up arena, featuring Crysis' signature abilities and sound effects. However, Crytek never officially announced Crysis Next, opting instead to cancel it in favor of Crysis 4, which was announced in January 2022.

Crysis, a beloved first-person sci-fi shooter series, is celebrated for its stunning visuals, innovative nanosuit powers, and open-ended gameplay. The original game, released in 2007, became a benchmark for PC performance, famously spawning the phrase, "But can it run Crysis?" which became a touchstone for evaluating PC specifications. The last mainline entry, Crysis 3, was released in February 2013. Since then, Crytek has released remasters of the original games, but updates on Crysis 4 have been scarce since its announcement and teaser three years ago.