Crytek announced today that it is transferring development of Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age from Austin to Frankfurt and asking Crytek Austin employees who are not part of the North American CryEngine support team to re-apply for new positions at Crytek Frankfurt. These layoffs were announced alongside the company's deal to sell the Homefront IP to Koch Media, who is expected to continue development of Crytek Nottingham's Homefront: The Revolution. These restructuring efforts follow reports that Crytek has had persistent trouble making payroll, reports which it attempted to address in an obtuse public statement earlier this month. You may remember that Crytek founded its Austin studio back in 2013 as a foot in the door of U.S. development, and filled its ranks with former Vigil Games (Darksiders) developers cast adrift in the wake of parent company THQ's collapse. At the time Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli told Gamasutra that Crytek Austin would focus on developing online games, and the multiplayer PC and console game Hunt seemed to be a fitting debut project for the studio. However, Kotaku reports that Crytek Austin CEO David Adams left the studio earlier this month along with several staff members after Crytek repeatedly failed to pay them. Gamasutra has reached out to Crytek representatives for more information on what happened and how the Austin studio will be affected by the loss of the Hunt project. As always, if you or someone you know was affected by this restructuring you can email Gamasutra to tell your story confidentially.
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