Crytek, facing challenging market conditions, announced layoffs impacting approximately 60 employees, or 15% of its 400-person workforce. This decision, according to Crytek founder Avni Yerli, was necessary to ensure the company's long-term financial stability, despite the growth of Hunt: Showdown.

Yerli's statement highlights the company's efforts to mitigate costs, including shifting staff to Hunt: Showdown and pausing development on Crysis 4 in Q3 2024. However, these measures proved insufficient to prevent layoffs, which affect both development and support teams. Crytek is providing severance packages and career support to affected employees.

The statement emphasizes Crytek's continued commitment to Hunt: Showdown, describing it as a "very strong gaming service," and its ongoing development of the CRYENGINE.

The news follows previous reports of a canceled Crysis Next project, a battle royale-inspired title that was ultimately scrapped in favor of Crysis 4, officially announced in January 2022. The Crysis franchise, known for its visually stunning graphics and demanding system requirements (famously leading to the "But can it run Crysis?" meme), has not seen a new mainline entry since Crysis 3 in 2013, aside from recent remasters. The future of Crysis 4 remains uncertain following this development.