Just like EA and The Old Republic saga, this time Crytek has to face the burnt of a public shaming. An anonymous ex-employee has revealed a lot of details about Crytek’s work conditions and their hire and fire policy. This is what he had to say.
The atmosphere in the office for a couple of years now has meant that staff feel uncertain of their futures within the company and either jump ship, or get fired unlawfully and are forced to legally settle their dispute in the courts. Several ex-Crytek employees have already been successful in mounting legal battles and won settlements, yet Crytek still treat staff as disposable pieces of meat to be discarded at will.
We fully understand that a games company needs to make a profit, and this site isn’t going against the great work that the current employees have made in the past or are currently working on. We are merely trying to notify the world that the current amazement bubble surrounding Crytek is unjustified and severely out of sync with other games companies who treat their staff well and continue to create great pieces of work.
The work of all individuals responsible for the games should be immensely proud of what they have achieved under the circumstances of a bullying mentality given at CEO level. Monthly meetings were met with speeches worthy of YouTube in hilarity with lines such as “You should all be so proud to work for Crytek”, yet demanding six months of crunch time due to project management failures. This caused certain members of staff to suffer both in medical and personal ways.
This polluted work atmosphere has resulted in the resignation and / or unlawfully firing of:
- Global Talent Manager
- Global Head of Resourceful Humans
- Lead Games Designer / Senior AI Designer
- Lead Community Manager
- Community Manager
- Lead Researcher
- Storyboard and Concept Artist
- Concept Artist
- Producer
- Executive Producer
- Chief Finance Officer
- Senior Level Designer
- Level/Environment Artist
- Technical Artist
- Level Designer/s
- Web Developer
It was well known amongst staff that a move to another office was on the cards, word soon got around that this new building had 70 fewer seats inside. Many employees discussed the possibility of being let go in one way or another. This was all just talk until word crept around that people were disappearing in one way or another. Whether or not the move resulted in the Crytek heads to agree on trimming the fat from the company is another matter entirely and as speculation, will not be discussed here.
Crytek has obviously denied these accusations in an interview with Develop.
“These are completely misleading accusations. One thing that will always be the same is that Crytek respects and values its employees very highly, and equally – that’s very important. Whether it’s an intern, whether it’s a director, it doesn’t change; everyone is important,” he said.
“That isn’t something that goes away just in employment, that’s also in post-employment. Whether there are some people who depart who feel they have not been treated fairly, this is the first time someone has tried to harm us. I think we maintain excellent relationships with ex-employees, and we always try to.
“The fact that we can make strong games and technologies is entirely down to the skill and passion of the people that we work with, and a reflection of the harmony and the competency of our team.”
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