Crysis 3 lead producer Mike Read leaves Crytek amid reports of financial strife

Following reports of financial strife at Crytek, another high-profile staffer has left the company.

Crysis 3lead producer Mike Read is now a 'former' producer at Crytek, according to both his LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. It follows news last week that the company's principle graphics engineer Tiago Sousa has defected to id Software.

In an unrelated Twitter conversationearlier this week, Read expressed regret regarding how Crysis 3 had turned out, which was criticised at the time for lacking a campaign to equal its graphics tech. "Some amazing tech behind it for sure," Read replied to a user criticising the game. "Wish we could have done more on many fronts." He later clarified that his issues with the title were gameplay related.

In addition to Crysis 3, Mike Read also lead production on Ryse: Son of Rome, an Xbox One launch exclusive which was met with a muted critical response. According to a recent Kotaku report, negotiations on a sequel ended when Crytek could not come to an agreement with Microsoft over rights. This lead to some employees allegedly only receiving a small portion of their wage. Crytek has yet to respond to these rumours.

It's been a tough month for Crytek: reports of staff being underpaidcontinue to circulate, along with claims that upwards of 30 staff have voluntarily left the company's UK offices since 2011. Though the company has yet to confirm or deny the rumours, it has moved to assure that its announced projects are still in development.

"We continue to focus on the development and publishing of our upcoming titles Homefront: The Revolution, Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age, Arena of Fate, and Warface, as well as providing ongoing support for our CryEngine and its licensees," a spokesperson wrote.