Crytek GmbH is a German video game and software developer, based in Frankfurt, Germany. Founded by Turkish German brothers Cevat, Avni and Faruk Yerli in Coburg in September 1999 and moved to Frankfurt in 2006, Crytek also operates further studios in Kiev and Istanbul.
The company is best known for developing the first installment of the Far Cry series (subsequent sequels and spin-offs being developed by Ubisoft Montreal) and the Crysis series, the open world nature of their games which showcase the company's CryEngine, and for pushing the limits on PC specifications to achieve advanced graphics and gameplay. Their most recent major products were the 2013 Ryse: Son of Rome, released as a launch title for the Xbox One and its supporting iteration of their CryEngine. On 13 April 2012 Crytek released the CryEngine 3.4 SDK which brought full DirectX 11 support to the CryEngine SDK. Crytek released Crysis 3 in February 2013 and Ryse: Son of Rome on 22 November 2013 as an Xbox One launch title. The PC version of Ryse: Son of Rome was released in October 2014.
On September 20, 2011, THQ and Crytek announced their partnership to have developed Homefront 2 by Crytek UK using the latest CryEngine technology. After THQ filed for bankruptcy, Crytek acquired the Homefront franchise from THQ entirely on January 22, 2013. In February 2012 Crytek announced a new cloud based social gaming network called Gface. The service is designed to help users meet people and play multiplayer video games with friends.[20] Crytek began researching a cloud gaming system in 2005 for Crysis, but paused development in 2007. In June 2014 reports surfaced that Crytek had missed wage payments and withheld bonuses for Crytek UK and Crytek USA employees, and the company responded that it was in a "transitional phase" as it secured capital for future projects, with a particular emphasis on online gaming. On 30 July 2014 Crytek announced a strategic deal where the rights to Homefront including Homefront: The Revolution and the Crytek UK staff were transferred to Koch Media. The team continued its work on the game as the new Deep Silver Dambuster Studios. Crytek USA was restructured to remain an engine support team while development of Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age was transferred to Crytek. The team that originally worked on the game started new ventures.