Crytek CEO “surprised” by lack of bids on Vigil Games

Many were shocked when Darksiders II developer Vigil Games came out of the THQ auction with no bids, including Crytek chief executive officer Cevat Yerli. Yerli told GamesBeat that he was "surprised" by the outcome when Crytek was bidding on the rights to Homefront 2.

"We were surprised when nobody bid on Vigil," Yerli told GamesBeat. "We would have liked to have bid, but there were too many unknowns. I thought that maybe we could reconsider bidding, but eventually we decided not to because the projects [the developer was working on] weren't strategically fit for us, but I really liked David [when I talked to him] on the phone. He made a very good impression on me as someone who really cared, someone who is really passionate about what he does, and someone who is passionate about the team he works with."

The deal between Yerli and Vigil Games founder David Adams - with 20 to 30 employees from Vigil becoming the new Crytek USA - came together very quickly. In fact, it was a single meeting between Yerli and the team: no interviews took place.

"It was an interesting time," Adams told GamesBeat. "I was telling everyone that [Friday] was their last day. [Yerli] came out the next day. We met, and the day after we were pulling a new studio together called Crytek USA."

"I was thinking that if the [whole] team showed up to the Sunday meeting in full number, as David said they would, it would show implicitly the trust and respect the team has for David," said Yerli. "And when they all showed up and expressed that they really wanted to work together - that team integrity and the fact that they really didn't want to split up was enough for me to say this goes beyond an interview. I didn't ask David about his previous jobs, it was completely based on trust and the fact that these guys were great people with a great history."

One thing that won't be making the transition over to Crytek USA is Vigil's Darksiders franchise. The team is free to do what it will with Crytek's CryEngine 3, but the Four Horsemen won't ride again.

"We didn't want to continue with Darksiders III, since that doesn't fit with our strategy," said Yerli. "It's not like we set the team on a specific game concept. They're actually going to work on what David and the team identifies as what they want to do. Right now, they just know what the strategy of Crytek is and the framework we need to satisfy, but none of that drives what the game is about."

The full interview with Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli and Crytek USA CEO David Adams is available at VentureBeat.