On February 4th, at 9.00 am, there was a police raid at Crytek's offices in Coburg, Germany. The raid, according to German media reports and the company, was a result of a tip-off by a disgruntled ex-employee claiming that Crytek were using more copies of a software brand than they had licenses for. According to media reports German police not only raided the Crytek offices but also the home of the head of the company. Although Crytek confirmed the office raids it has not done so for that on its head executive's home.
German media also report that the police claim the possible incurred damages may be in the millions (Euros) something which if proved correct may cause the company severe financial woes.
In an official statement however, Crytek appear defiant and dismissive of the entire event claiming that the company fully cooperated (with the police)in every way. What is missing from the statement is a full denial that the raid produced anything incriminating against Crytek, although the statement does add police cleared the matter with Crytek and it's management staff. Crytek also lash out at various media sources by claiming that Despite false allegations that have appeared in various media and forums, no inventory or personel were affected in any way.
Interesting though this is it is of little concern to gamers who, upon hearing the news, froze fearing another Half-Life 2-style, delay fiasco. That is where the Crytek press release appears to be more comforting as it claims that Development of the eagerly awaited Far Cry was only delayed for three hours... finishing the matter off with the following Crytek would like to assure its fans that completion of Far Cry remains on track.
Whatever the developer may have done wrong or not it would really be a great shame if such a well-made and highly anticipated game was to be delayed or see its production postponed simply because someone got careless with the licenses.