When it comes to the shooter franchise of Crysis, the usual associations of visual fidelity and high-impact action tend to hold true. And when Crytek revealed that it would be working on a new entry, there was plenty of excitement about what could be done with the latest iteration of CryEngine. Unfortunately, the long period of silence has been explained, as Crytek has stopped all development on Crysis 4 while announcing layoffs at the studio.
“Like so many of our peers, we aren’t immune to the complex, unfavourable market dynamics that have hit our industry these past several years,” Crytek’s statement on X/Twitter said. “It pains us greatly to share today that we must lay off an estimated 15% of our around 400 employees. The layoffs affect development teams and shared services.”
The focus will instead turn from Crysis 4 to the studio’s more recent title, Hunt: Showdown 1896. The growth of the extraction shooter represents a stronger proposition for Crytek, and more development efforts will be pushed to that game.
“While Hunt: Showdown 1896 is still growing, Crytek cannot continue as before and remain financially sustainable,” said Crytek. “We firmly believe in the future of Crytek. With Hunt: Showdown 1896, we have a very strong gaming service and remain fully committed to its operation.“
While the decision to put Crysis 4 on hold is shocking, the fact that it was decided in late 2024 meant that there were plenty of problems brewing already, even if Crytek has largely been silent since the game’s reveal back in January 2022.
There is no clarity on when developers will be reassigned to Crysis 4 or how far along its development had progressed before this decision, but it is still a shame to see a highly anticipated project such as this get put on ice.
