Crytek has revealed plans to lay off 60 employees from its workforce of 400.

In a recent tweet, the company shared that although Hunt: Showdown continues to expand, it could not sustain its previous operations and maintain financial viability. Furthermore, Crytek announced that the development of Crysis 4 would be “paused” until late 2024, prompting a transition of staff to support Hunt and implement cost-saving measures. Unfortunately, these layoffs, which impact around 15% of the workforce, became unavoidable.

The layoffs will affect various teams within Crytek, including those dedicated to development and shared services. The studio has stated that it will provide severance packages for those impacted.

Here’s the full statement from Crytek founder Avni Yerli:

Like many of our industry counterparts, we are not immune to the challenging market conditions that have affected our sector in recent years. It deeply saddens me to announce that we must let go of approximately 15% of our 400 employees. This decision impacts both development teams and shared services.

Making this decision has not been easy, as we truly value the dedication of our talented teams. After we decided to pause development on the next Crysis title in Q3 2024, we have been focusing on reallocating developers to Hunt: Showdown 1896.

While Hunt: Showdown 1896 continues to progress, we recognize that we cannot operate as we have in the past and still remain financially sound. After various attempts to minimize expenses and reduce overhead costs, we have concluded that layoffs are necessary for us to move forward. Crytek will provide support through severance packages and career transition services for those affected.

We remain optimistic about Crytek’s future. With Hunt: Showdown 1896, we possess a robust gaming platform and are committed to its ongoing growth. We will continuously enhance Hunt: Showdown 1896 with exciting content and drive the development of our engine, CRYENGINE.

Previously, it was reported that Crytek had explored a battle royale-style Crysis project, codenamed Crysis Next, which leaked on YouTube with early gameplay footage showcasing third-person shooting mechanics set in a basic training arena, featuring classic Crysis abilities and sound effects.

Crytek never officially announced Crysis Next, which was ultimately shelved in favor of Crysis 4 before its reveal in January 2022.

Crysis is a renowned first-person sci-fi shooter franchise celebrated for its stunning graphics, unique nanosuit mechanics, and expansive gameplay. The inaugural title, released in 2007, quickly became a standard for PC performance testing, sparking the iconic phrase, “But can it run Crysis?”—used to assess a computer’s capabilities in subsequent years.

The latest main installment in the series, Crysis 3, launched in February 2013. Though Crytek has released updated versions of the original games, there has been little news regarding Crysis 4 since its announcement and teaser three years ago.

Wesley serves as the UK News Editor for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter at @wyp100 or reach out via email at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.