An unknown number of employees at Crytek’s studio in the UK are said to have stopped going to work after the staff went without pay for several months. Kotaku says that based on a number of anonymous sources.
Kotaku’s sources say Crytek UK employees went home this week and left formal letters of complaint. One person allegedly familiar with the company estimates that about a hundred employees have stopped working. It is not clear to him how many of the hundred employees will actually stay away from the studio. In total, Crytek currently employs around 800 people in the UK.
In addition to previous reports that World of Tanks developers Wargaming.net wants to take over the studio, there would now also be talks with Deep Silver, publisher of the Dead Island series, about a possible takeover. Crytek employees would be positive about a possible acquisition by the Dead Island publisher; it would provide enough money for the further development of Homefront: The Revolution.
The rumors of employees refusing to go to work come on top of previous reports that the game developer is in dire straits. Crytek would pay employees’ salaries late or sometimes even not, and sales of Crysis 3 and the Xbox One exclusive title Ryse: Son of Rome would have been much lower than originally thought. In addition, sales of the CryEngine would also be disappointing. Crytek denies the rumors and insists that it will continue to develop Homefront: The Revolution, among others, and will continue to provide support for its CryEngine.