In unsurprising news Crytek has finally confirmed that its UK studio is being shut down. The company also announced layoffs at its Austin studio, where in-development co-op shooter Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age is being moved over to Frankfurt.
Additionally the Homefront franchise, which the studio was working on in the shape of Homefront: The Revolution, has been bought up by Deep Silver and transferred over to its new Dambuster Studio.
”We are thrilled to see another great IP joining the Deep Silver universe,” Koch Media Group CEO Klemens Kundratitz said in a statement yesterday. ”We strongly believe in the potential of Homefront: The Revolution and trust in the new team to continue the path they have been walking in the last years.”
Those rumours that Koch Media was in the process of buying out Crytek itself turned out to be slightly wide of the mark, but it has managed to secure a promising IP through subsidiary Deep Silver. Many of Crytek UK’s staff will be joining Dambuster to continue working on Revolution.
“As we look to cement Crytek’s future, this strategic deal with Koch Media would allow us to continue with our ambitious goals to become an online publisher,” said Crytek’s chief executive officer Cevat Yerli. “With Warface, Arena of Fate, and Hunt, we believe we have the perfect portfolio and teams to make that happen. We would like to thank all our staff – past and present – in both Nottingham and Austin for their contributions to the company, and we wish all the very best to anyone who may no longer be under the Crytek banner moving forward.”
This has been in the post for a while, but at least it sounds like most of the staff at Crytek UK have managed to land a move straight across to Dambuster. Crytek has said that staff from its Austin office are welcome to relocate to Frankfurt to continue working on Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age, but obviously that’s a rather more difficult journey to make. Best of luck to everyone who finds themselves out of a job.
