No matter how despicable one person may be, no one should be obligated to work with no compensation. Unfortunately, Crytek Shanghai did not think that the above statement was accurate. Ever since September of last year, they were working their employees without giving them a cent.
Daniel Ahmed, who is an Analyst at Niko Partners and regularly tweets about the digital games market in China and Southeast Asia, broke the news via a tweet on Twitter. He noted how during the timeframe where employees received zero compensation, they were still open for a business. However, Ahmed now reveals that they had to close their doors because they could not pay rent.
Crytek assured their employees that they would receive proper pay in due time, sadly, that never happened. Ahmed attached proof to these allegations with an email sent out (via a photo) by the offices in Shanghai. It read,
“To clarify the payroll issue and people not attending office. We will pay for full salaries up until Oct 31st for those that are still with the company now. Of course people that quit earlier will be paid until their last work day”, the email continues. “Starting from Nov 1st, if staff does not come to office, it will be accountant for as a unpaid day for staff.”
Their attempt to become a solo entrepreneur did not work either, as now their doors are closed. Before this, Crytek Shanghai contributed to licensing business development, as well as the localization of Warface in mainland China. Of course, Crytek, themselves, is a software and video game developer with multiple studios around the world. Given that back in December of last year they shut down five of their studios, Crytek has not exactly been on fire as of late.