L. Scofield
Veteran
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Crytek may go bankrupt
- Thread starter fellix
- Start date
There is a big difference in “your scenario”… XB360 was released in 11/2005 and Gears of War was released 11/2006 – a full year later. Meaning, XB360 had an established userbase on securing great sales for Gears of War. Ryse did not have that luxury...
As Shortbread says, Gears was launching on a platform that had a year's headstart to accrue 10 million gamers wanting a next-gen experience. Ryse released to an audience of zero. One can also argue that whatever examples you might finding of being an exclusive launch title, those titles were just lucky. You don't go platform exclusive unless the benefits outweigh the potential losses (see why Insomniac turned multiplatform). Clearly some of those benefits are taken on faith, which is questionable business strategy. Instead of gambling on being a big hit, a company with 800 mouths to feed should have much better grasp of where its income, enough to cover expenses, is going to come from. A hugely expensive platform exclusive releasing to a virgin market is, and was, a huge risk. One that didn't pay off, it seems.
They probably thought that Ryse would sell much more than the honorable ~1 million it sold after 6 months.
Maybe they thought that the Xbox One would easily lead the next gen race like X360 did and they planned that they would sell ~3 millions in 10 weeks like Gears of War did with X360? Even if Gears of War wasn't a launch title.
What I find odd is that Cevat Yerli, the CEO of such a big company, Crytek, is one of the 2 co-directors of some games, notably Ryse. That means that he can make emotional but economically unreasonable choices during the development of a game because, you know, he is the boss.
And indeed he was probably the one that took that decision.
But maybe Ryse limited success hadn't really such an impact on the company's current troubles.
Maybe they thought that the Xbox One would easily lead the next gen race like X360 did and they planned that they would sell ~3 millions in 10 weeks like Gears of War did with X360? Even if Gears of War wasn't a launch title.
What I find odd is that Cevat Yerli, the CEO of such a big company, Crytek, is one of the 2 co-directors of some games, notably Ryse. That means that he can make emotional but economically unreasonable choices during the development of a game because, you know, he is the boss.
And indeed he was probably the one that took that decision.
But maybe Ryse limited success hadn't really such an impact on the company's current troubles.
I almost want to just say good riddance to them for not respecting their fanbase (PC gamers) by giving them Crysis 2 instead of the true Crysis sequel we should have gotten. It wasn't a bad game, but it's cliche drivel did nothing special console gamers had already seen and PC gamers were just slapped in the face with an inferior sequel. Ryse is just another slap in the face by being Xbox One exclusive.
Ironic how their original and arguably most iconic creation (Far Cry) lives on as a game series developed by someone else. I wish there was a book about Crytek's inception, the development of X-Isle and CryEngine, Far Cry, the split from Ubisoft, CE2 & Crysis development and beyond......It would make for some good reading.
Ironic how their original and arguably most iconic creation (Far Cry) lives on as a game series developed by someone else. I wish there was a book about Crytek's inception, the development of X-Isle and CryEngine, Far Cry, the split from Ubisoft, CE2 & Crysis development and beyond......It would make for some good reading.
Going platform exclusive is a dangerous bet but I am sure the decision was made very long time ago and they like most probably felt MS would wipe the floor with Sony prior to E3 2013.
Granted its a risky bet but if I'm already over extended and I think I have a great IP for the biggest platform I might take that bet which in hindsight was poor judgement.
The other angle here is the growth of indies and the viability of traditional license models moving forward. Are flat monthly fees in exchange for a piece of the profit a better model than high upfront cost that many indies can't afford.
shredenvain
Regular
Blaming this on Ryse is really stupid. Being that it is a Xbox One exclusive Im sure Ms funded the majority of development and marketing. The real reason they are in trouble has more to do with having multiple studios all over the world that have yet to release anything of any real importance. Also there engine isnt really being used by anyone except their own studios. Turtle Rock is the only other studio I can think of at the moment. Then they bought the Ip for Homefront. Blaming the problems on one game that sold decently and was most likely funded by the publisher is really silly.
I for one enjoy Crytek's games and hope that they can turn things around or at least be purchased by someone else. They need to close the branches of their studios that arent carrying any weight.
I for one enjoy Crytek's games and hope that they can turn things around or at least be purchased by someone else. They need to close the branches of their studios that arent carrying any weight.
Ike Turner
Veteran
Star Citizen is on CRYENGINE, Arkane Studio (Bethesda/Zenimax) is also using it on their next game (Dishonored 2 or Prey 2).
HUNT is also using Cryengine and it's coming out later this year. It looks interesting kinda like a mix of Left 4 Dead and The Order 1886...but more like cowboys vs zombies...could be fun.
http://www.huntthegame.com/
http://www.huntthegame.com/
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So it sounds like a simple matter of growing beyond their revenue and totally misjudging the market for their engine. And that really doesn't surprise me.
Pretty much. When you consider that they employ a similar number of staff as, say, Rockstar or SCEA, over (apparently) nine studios - you really have to wonder where their resources are actually going?
They have risk written all over them. Game dev' is risky enough without placing huge bets on building high cost, FTP mobile and social games/platforms. Especially when it clearly isn't the studio's historical financial bread and butter. Do we know if Warface been a success? The market for 'AAA' FTP console games hasn't proven itself in my opinion so I'd be surprised if it had, yet they are trying again with HUNT so you'd at least hope so...
One thing I also find curios was the rather dramatic, yet unceremonious release of cryengine as a subscription engine (without source). I wonder if it was a knee-jerk reaction to ue4 opening up.
...
It strikes me that several of these reviews mention pay bring delayed..... That's a pretty huge red flag right there
Ouch! F***! 
Around here, pay being delayed pretty much means the unions will force bankruptcy proceedings on you... Crap!
Why is it a stupid idiot app like "Yo!" manages to find venture capital, while a game studio like Crytek gets to falter like this? Damn, damn, damn!
Around here, pay being delayed pretty much means the unions will force bankruptcy proceedings on you... Crap!
Why is it a stupid idiot app like "Yo!" manages to find venture capital, while a game studio like Crytek gets to falter like this? Damn, damn, damn!
I suppose Crytek's past record is pretty poor such that investors aren't attracted to them. Indie startups have no negative past record so it's easier for investors to imagine them a golden goose and throw money at them.
ArcticCircle
Newcomer
Crytek haven't made a good game since Crysis (including Warhead). And even it's story was horrible, no matter if we compare it to the other games in same genre or scifi in general.
They make pretty tech demos. Too bad for them there's plenty of free or very cheap game engines. I don't think they have chance to survive for long.
They make pretty tech demos. Too bad for them there's plenty of free or very cheap game engines. I don't think they have chance to survive for long.
They proabbly have the option to drop all the game making studios and focus on the engine. It's a working, viable product, although I don't know how competitive. Then if they grow they can get back to making games with it, although you run the risk of tailoring the engine to your game instead of your users' games.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
It also doesn't help on the PC side they are published by EA and hence their own games (after Crysis 2) aren't even available on the most used digital delivery system on the planet. I and many others I know haven't bought any of their followup games on PC because we buy all of our games on Steam.
Shame.
Traction for their engine is actually starting to pick up as well. A lot of Chinese and Korean developers are using it in the MMO space. Some mid-tier almost but not quite AAA games are using it as well as some upcoming AAA games.
It's really a shame they didn't stick with UBISoft and got saddled with crappy EA instead.
Regards,
SB
Shame.
Traction for their engine is actually starting to pick up as well. A lot of Chinese and Korean developers are using it in the MMO space. Some mid-tier almost but not quite AAA games are using it as well as some upcoming AAA games.
It's really a shame they didn't stick with UBISoft and got saddled with crappy EA instead.
Regards,
SB
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