The Space opus Star Citizen is under attack. The German game developer Crytek is suing the company: They accuse CIG of copyright infringements.
Crytek has filed a lawsuit against CIG in a California court. This is the company behind Star Citizen.
It concerns the fact that CIG uses the CryEngine to develop other games besides Star Citizen, specifically the accusation revolves around the development of Squadron 42.
According to the letter, Crytek has seen no money for CIG’s use of their technology to develop the game Squadron 42. Thus, they have been cheated out of a due compensation, which consists of an advance payment and a share of the profits.
Additionally, Crytek accuses CIG of having removed the Crytek logos from all material. This apparently happened around the time when studio head Chris Roberts began referring to the game engine as “Star Engine” instead of CryEngine.
An engine refers to the underlying system in computer games that serves as the framework for developing a game.
Crytek is now demanding compensation for direct damages from CIG. Additionally, they want further compensation for indirect damages and seek a preliminary injunction to prohibit CIG from using the CryEngine and continuing to infringe on Crytek’s copyrights.
You can read the full text of the court complaint here in English.
Confused Matter
At first glance, the situation appears to be a convoluted story where arguments can be found for both sides.
At its core, it’s about two things:
- Is Squadron 42 a standalone game or does it belong to Star Citizen?
- When has an engine been modified enough that it is its own engine and no longer belongs to the original manufacturer?
Star Citizen: We have not used the Cryengine since the end of 2015
Apparently, Star Citizen did use the CryEngine in the past, but they modified the existing engine to the extent that they felt it had become their own. They hired personnel from Crytek to solve engine problems when Crytek was financially struggling. Additionally, around Christmas 2016, Star Citizen allegedly made an engine switch.
At that time, it was said:
- Since the end of 2015, they have not used CryEngine builds, but their own builds, which they dubbed StarEngine.
- At the end of 2016, they switched to Amazon’s Lumberyard Engine. This is also a modified offshoot of the CryEngine.
- Since both StarEngine and Lumberyard are offspring of the same CryEngine build, the switch was considered easy.
Now the implicit accusation arises that CIG merely “switched” the engine to avoid paying Crytek their share.
Crytek Wants to See Money
Apparently, Crytek is bothered by the fact that
- they are not financially involved with Squadron 42
- CIG has freely used the Crytek engine and used it as a template to further develop it while also showcasing it to others. They consider this to be contract violations.
It is hard to say how the dispute will develop and what consequences the legal battle will ultimately have. CIG has not yet released a statement.
- Fans of the game are in defensive mode. This is said to be a desperate attempt by Crytek to earn money. They are apparently at their wits’ end, attacking former customers this way. This would destroy Crytek’s reputation. Such opinions can be seen on Reddit.
- Opponents of the game are sharpening their knives. They claim this is the definitive end of Star Citizen. They believe that they do not have the money to pay Crytek, otherwise the case would have never progressed this far. This is the opinion of notorious Star Citizen opponent Derek Smart, who praises the suing law firm highly on Twitter. They only take on dead cert cases.
Here you can find more on the topic of engine changes:
Star Citizen: “Engine switch cost two technicians a workday”
