Kyiv Warface developers are leaving Crytek and run their own studio

In Kyiv office of the German developer Crytek, there are some big changes going on: the development team of the Warface game, the main project of the studio, announced its retirement. They create their own studio Blackwood Games, which will take on the further development of Warface. This is reported on the official website of Crytek.

“Kyiv studio has evolved along with the game, and we want to announce an important strategic and structural change that will positively affect the future of the Warface franchise. The Warface development team, led by creative director Mykhaylo Haimzon, will form their own independent development studio, Blackwood Games,” it is reported in the release.

The new studio will be responsible for both future and already released Warface updates. “We have kept the development team in its original composition, and its expertise will help us move forward in line with our plans and ideas,” said Haimzon.

It is not yet clear whether it is a question of the reorganization of Crytek Ukraine together with the entire state at Blackwood Games or whether a particular team has broken away. In the Kyiv office, the situation is left without comments. In fact, Crytek Ukraine was engaged only in Warface, where the full cycle of game development is concentrated.

The departure of the Warface developers was confirmed by a co-founder of Crytek Anvi Yerli. “The Warface team has always inspired us. Becoming independent for a closer partnership with the publisher is a strategic step, and it is in the best interests of the game itself, which we all cannot but agree on. At the same time, this reorganization will allow us to focus on our own IP and long-term plans,” Yerli said.

In the past, AIN.UA published a report from Crytek Ukraine, in which we told a brief history of the studio and Warface. The game was completely created in Kyiv and was its main project. In 2016, Crytek survived the crisis, with the result that it closed almost all external offices, leaving only the Ukrainian one. “The Kyiv studio is the only one which made a product that earned money,” commented Crytek Ukraine producer, Yevhen Skachkov.