THQ... Next Crytek?

[Mazy]

http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/30/5952159/crytek-uk-usa-homefront-deep-silver-hunt

 

Apparently they've also more or less closed down Crytek USA, moved Hunt development to Frankfurt :C~

[Vilham]

DUN DUN DUUUUUN!

[PaulH]

Crytek UK isn't closing down as such, we are continuing to work in the same offices, with the same people on HF2, the main difference being we are no longer part of Crytek and are now owned by Deep Silver

[PogoP]

That's good news then Paul, glad you're rid of the stigma of the Crytek situation. That can't have been a nice thing looming over. You manage to keep your job then I take it?

 

(edited for clarity!)

Edited July 30, 2014 by PogoP

[PaulH]

That's good news then Paul, glad you're rid of the stigma of the Crytek situation. That can't have been a nice thing looming over. You manage to keep your job then I take it?

 

(edited for clarity!)

 

I don't know what the edit said A job is there for me though if I want it, the new Dambuster company requires everyone to sign a new contract but apart from that it's a seamless transfer. No one will technically lose their job over this, but a lot of people left during the few months that we weren't paid. It's easy to see why - even though recently we've known this acquisition was likely to happen a lot of people had already interviewed with other companies and sometimes the lure of a new workplace and fresh start is hard to resist. I also have a few options I'm currently weighing up, I will likely make a decision this week.

[Alf-Life]

"Dambusters"? lol...

[PaulH]

"Dambusters"? lol...

 

I wasn't in the office today actually when this name was unveiled. I'll have to find out tomorrow if it's actually a cheeky dig by the UK arm of a former German employer

[PogoP]

At first I said 'glad you're rid of the stigma of crytek' but didn't mean to offend anybody still at Crytek.

 

Best of luck with the transition dude. It's nice to have options!

[Furyo]

Not that I know for sure this will happen, and far from me to wish for it too, but I'd be worried about ongoing development post HF2. Also, still very worried with future of Crytek as a developer. I understand they want to publish online games, and truthfully they should, but they also need to make these games or they won't have anything to publish.

[Vilham]

 

"Dambusters"? lol...

 

I wasn't in the office today actually when this name was unveiled. I'll have to find out tomorrow if it's actually a cheeky dig by the UK arm of a former German employer

 

Probably not as Koch are German.

[PaulH]

True

[FrieChamp]

All horror scenarios taken into account this is a relatively good outcome for Crytek (UK). I'm sorry for the US office though. Crytek looked like the big hero when they swooped in and bought the studio, now they are closing it down. Of course a lot of people raised concerns that Crytek is overstretching but in hindsight everbody's going to say they saw it coming. I guess the transition to an online F2P studio is now complete. I'm wondering if they're going to produce any more mobile titles...Anyway, welcome to da club boyz!

[Ginger Lord]

Hope everyone gets sorted out soon, regardless of where or how. Dragged on for far too long.

[FMPONE]

Just make high quality AAA games at a $60 price point and release on Steam (or Origin if you want to be cheeky). Why is this so complicated? Why chase your dick trying to make a F2P MOBA etc etc.?

 

I don't get it, never really have. Look at Wolfenstein. That's the kind of game you want to be making, just do that and you'll be fine as an industry. Out of the ashes of Crytek what happens? What do people ultimately care about? Homefront; that becomes the big focus of attention. It's almost as if they had it backwards to begin with. As for Ryse, there's another good example of trying to be too clever, at least IMO, what with all that motion sensor gimmick stuff that it was born out of.

 

They should have put more eggs into the Crysis basket, and made the games themselves more of a draw. That franchise sort of petered out, after a very strong start, it could have been different. 

[e-freak]

Just make high quality AAA games at a $60 price point and release on Steam (or Origin if you want to be cheeky). Why is this so complicated? Why chase your dick trying to make a F2P MOBA etc etc.?

 

Because 60$ AAA makes fuck no money. Wolfenstein is a positive example in a market that's been declining for years. Or rather than declining it's more and more polarized. You got the big winners like CoD (Activision), Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft) and Battlefield (EA), you got a few good titles (like Wolfenstein) in the midground and then you have a ton of titles that are really good, but they aren't making their money back.

 

The last Bioshock, Tomb Raider, etc were all considered flops for the publisher (even when they sold really, really well). I mean, there's even a reddit thread on this topic http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/vtxi2/great_financially_unsuccessful_games/

 

Neither consoles nor F2P is the enemy. The truth is that it's really fucking difficult to be your own game studio outside of a massive publishing house that can market your game like crazy. And it's even more difficult trying to break out of these traditional patterns and trying to become a self-functioning developer that can both develop and publish. You get high rewards when it works, but you're also shouldering years of financial burden and all the risk.