5 ms·

There is a big german gamecompany that hasn't paid 300+ employees in 4 months so they are bleeding employees instead of firing them.

oevi 10y ago
Gameforge?
- germanthrowaway 10y ago
  no
- Sujan 10y ago
  GF already fired ~100 people a few days ago: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-10-25-layoffs-strike-gameforge-as-publisher-abandons-mobile http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-10-25-layoffs-str...
Sujan 10y ago
Hamburg, I guess... ?
- germanthrowaway 10y ago
  no
- Yaziyumaru 10y ago
  Could be, I know alot of developers here who work for GoodGames and InnoGames. I think GG did a batch of firings semi-recently but I don't recall hearing about anybody not being paid. Then again I'm not German so I miss out on some news.
  - germanthrowaway 10y ago
    not gg, not ig
tomaskafka 10y ago
wooga?
throwaway642012 10y ago
You're using a throwaway so why hiding the name of the company? It could save fellow developers. Is it Wooga/King games?
- germanthrowaway 10y ago
  correct so I will give up crytek
  - Ashwinning 10y ago
    Any proof?
    - mstade 10y ago
      FWIW I've heard the same thing through the grapevine. I'm not in the games industry myself, so appropriate amounts of salt required.
    - germanthrowaway 10y ago
      no proof that would not make it so that peoples' future is not ruined. they all depend on not pissing off the wrong people in order to get the money they are owed. reality is that no one within crytek trusts the management since they have lied for several months about what is going on. i heard that a sister studio in bulgaria no longer has management because of the disconnection in the company.
      - Ashwinning 10y ago
        Man, they burnt through that $50M from Amazon pretty fast.
      - johnnyfaehell 10y ago
        In Germany not paying on time results in a default 40 euro fee being owed. Also any costs incurred because of not being paid on time are also owed. Further more withholding pay all together is a criminal offence which I believe carries serious jail time. After months of not getting paid you should lawyer up. The legal system is very much on the side of the employee, if you get fired for getting a lawyer, you'll get even more money and possibly rehired. (I know one person who got their job back after going to a lawyer, it was very much not the outcome they wanted.)
johan_larson 10y ago
I'm amazed people are hanging on after four months without a paycheck. If I weren't an actual founder of the company, I think I'd be willing to put up with one missed paycheck. Sometimes shit just happens. But if a second was missed, I'd walk out.
- germanthrowaway 10y ago
  crytek has offices in many countries and employees are not guaranteed to have the same rights and expectings in all of them. the truth is also that the managers of crytek spend most of their time coming up with the lies they need to tell to keep people waiting for money and it works because people know they also cannot fight an international battle against a big company.
  - johan_larson 10y ago
    Well sure, they can't win a fight. But they can leave. Or is that less of an option in games development than in the rest of the industry?
    - germanthrowaway 10y ago
      people have left and more are leaving because the situation is seeing no real improvement. the sofiastudio as far as i know got two months delayed money and then got two payments at once and now are not being paid for two months again. we cannot all go to the star citizen team in the end and some of us are too loyal and maybe too stupid or too comfortable and naive.
germanthrowaway 10y ago
i want to add that some studios in the crytek family seem to have gotten paid in the middle of this period so this means that they are 2 month owed. these are not late payments but payments that never happened at all for 2 months.
throwaway2942 10y ago
Is there any more info you can provide? I dont want to sound combative, just curious because I have a lot of friends there and I havent heard anything. Is this happening for all employees? Do you think Crytek is holding on for robinson? I actually literally just got an offer a few weeks ago, this changes a lot. I know crytek had trouble before, but Im suprised these struggles are translating to the FFM studio.
- germanthrowaway 10y ago
  it applies to everyone and some are worse off than others. we have had emails sent to us from the bosses saying that we should not talk with people from the other studios but of course there is nothing that makes this impossible. under no circumstance should you take work at crytek. the reason for all of this is that the company as a whole has not had positive books for a long time and they did not look for money early enough. this means that they are now in a panic.
  - throwaway2942 10y ago
    Intresting, Im suprised this hasnt gotten any coverage or attention really. This is the first time Ive heard of it, but it correlates with a recent change in attitute with some of my contacts there. Some outright dont respond to messages, others reply with "Things are fine" etc... Do you anticipate this getting more coverage in the comming days/weeks? When was the last missed paycheck if I may ask? Thanks again. Your doing good work informing people.
    - germanthrowaway 10y ago
      the reason for the coverage being low is that no one is saying anything and information on glassdoor is being ignored by most people anyway. full disclosure: i am from the sofia office but i think that this is dangerous to say because we are fewer than the germans. in the sofia office we have not been paid for two months now and before that we had to wait two months for salaries, so it makes a total of 4 months of waiting. i can confirm that the frankfurt office also has not received money but i am not able to say exactly what their situation is. 2 or 3 months. i dont think this will get coverage because i will not provide any evidence that will make it clear who i am. if someone can tell me how to prove this without being in danger with crytek i will do what i can.
NovembReporter 10y ago
Sorry you're stuck in a bad situation. I'm a reporter for a US publication. Any interest in chatting off the record? I can give you more details if you get in touch, and guide you through the process of remaining anonymous. You can email me: germanthrowawayquestions@gmail.com

oevi 10y ago

Gameforge?

germanthrowaway 10y ago
no
Sujan 10y ago
GF already fired ~100 people a few days ago: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-10-25-layoffs-strike-gameforge-as-publisher-abandons-mobile http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-10-25-layoffs-str...

Sujan 10y ago

Hamburg, I guess... ?

germanthrowaway 10y ago
no
Yaziyumaru 10y ago
Could be, I know alot of developers here who work for GoodGames and InnoGames. I think GG did a batch of firings semi-recently but I don't recall hearing about anybody not being paid. Then again I'm not German so I miss out on some news.
- germanthrowaway 10y ago
  not gg, not ig

tomaskafka 10y ago

wooga?

throwaway642012 10y ago

You're using a throwaway so why hiding the name of the company? It could save fellow developers. Is it Wooga/King games?

germanthrowaway 10y ago
correct so I will give up crytek
- Ashwinning 10y ago
  Any proof?
  - mstade 10y ago
    FWIW I've heard the same thing through the grapevine. I'm not in the games industry myself, so appropriate amounts of salt required.
  - germanthrowaway 10y ago
    no proof that would not make it so that peoples' future is not ruined. they all depend on not pissing off the wrong people in order to get the money they are owed. reality is that no one within crytek trusts the management since they have lied for several months about what is going on. i heard that a sister studio in bulgaria no longer has management because of the disconnection in the company.
    - Ashwinning 10y ago
      Man, they burnt through that $50M from Amazon pretty fast.
    - johnnyfaehell 10y ago
      In Germany not paying on time results in a default 40 euro fee being owed. Also any costs incurred because of not being paid on time are also owed. Further more withholding pay all together is a criminal offence which I believe carries serious jail time. After months of not getting paid you should lawyer up. The legal system is very much on the side of the employee, if you get fired for getting a lawyer, you'll get even more money and possibly rehired. (I know one person who got their job back after going to a lawyer, it was very much not the outcome they wanted.)

johan_larson 10y ago

I'm amazed people are hanging on after four months without a paycheck. If I weren't an actual founder of the company, I think I'd be willing to put up with one missed paycheck. Sometimes shit just happens. But if a second was missed, I'd walk out.

germanthrowaway 10y ago
crytek has offices in many countries and employees are not guaranteed to have the same rights and expectings in all of them. the truth is also that the managers of crytek spend most of their time coming up with the lies they need to tell to keep people waiting for money and it works because people know they also cannot fight an international battle against a big company.
- johan_larson 10y ago
  Well sure, they can't win a fight. But they can leave. Or is that less of an option in games development than in the rest of the industry?
  - germanthrowaway 10y ago
    people have left and more are leaving because the situation is seeing no real improvement. the sofiastudio as far as i know got two months delayed money and then got two payments at once and now are not being paid for two months again. we cannot all go to the star citizen team in the end and some of us are too loyal and maybe too stupid or too comfortable and naive.

germanthrowaway 10y ago

i want to add that some studios in the crytek family seem to have gotten paid in the middle of this period so this means that they are 2 month owed. these are not late payments but payments that never happened at all for 2 months.

throwaway2942 10y ago

Is there any more info you can provide? I dont want to sound combative, just curious because I have a lot of friends there and I havent heard anything. Is this happening for all employees? Do you think Crytek is holding on for robinson? I actually literally just got an offer a few weeks ago, this changes a lot. I know crytek had trouble before, but Im suprised these struggles are translating to the FFM studio.

germanthrowaway 10y ago
it applies to everyone and some are worse off than others. we have had emails sent to us from the bosses saying that we should not talk with people from the other studios but of course there is nothing that makes this impossible. under no circumstance should you take work at crytek. the reason for all of this is that the company as a whole has not had positive books for a long time and they did not look for money early enough. this means that they are now in a panic.
- throwaway2942 10y ago
  Intresting, Im suprised this hasnt gotten any coverage or attention really. This is the first time Ive heard of it, but it correlates with a recent change in attitute with some of my contacts there. Some outright dont respond to messages, others reply with "Things are fine" etc... Do you anticipate this getting more coverage in the comming days/weeks? When was the last missed paycheck if I may ask? Thanks again. Your doing good work informing people.
  - germanthrowaway 10y ago
    the reason for the coverage being low is that no one is saying anything and information on glassdoor is being ignored by most people anyway. full disclosure: i am from the sofia office but i think that this is dangerous to say because we are fewer than the germans. in the sofia office we have not been paid for two months now and before that we had to wait two months for salaries, so it makes a total of 4 months of waiting. i can confirm that the frankfurt office also has not received money but i am not able to say exactly what their situation is. 2 or 3 months. i dont think this will get coverage because i will not provide any evidence that will make it clear who i am. if someone can tell me how to prove this without being in danger with crytek i will do what i can.

NovembReporter 10y ago

Sorry you're stuck in a bad situation. I'm a reporter for a US publication. Any interest in chatting off the record? I can give you more details if you get in touch, and guide you through the process of remaining anonymous. You can email me: germanthrowawayquestions@gmail.com