The boss behind Star Citizen is now caught in the crossfire of Forbes. A lengthy article casts a bad light on the man behind Star Citizen, his project, and Sandi Gardiner, the woman by his side.
What kind of article is this? This is an exclusive story from the magazine Forbes “The Saga of Star Citizen – a video game that raised $300 million and may never be released.”
The article focuses less on Star Citizen as a game itself, but more on Chris Roberts and his wife Sandi Gardiner. The article paints the picture of an eccentric man chasing his dreams and living off the fame of yesteryear.
What is being said about Chris Roberts? Forbes explains how Chris Roberts was programming as a talented teenager, then started at Origin Systems at 19 and became a star with Wing Commander in the 1990s.
However, he then left Origins to found his own studio, Digital Anvil. Here, he got sidetracked with further projects like Freelancer. He allegedly diverted money from Microsoft to finance his own film projects.
Eventually, he moved to Hollywood, where he failed. In Hollywood, he teamed up with a German lawyer and used money from a fund (VIP Medienfonds) that relied on tax loopholes to finance Hollywood films.
The German government, however, closed this loophole again in 2006, arrested the founder of the fund, and Roberts had to sell his film company.
What is being said about Star Citizen? The article starts again with the founding story of Star Citizen in 2012, how much money is raised there and that it is still unknown when the game will be finished.
Chris Roberts is portrayed as the Keith Richards of video games: an aging rock star who still manages to get his fans to spend money.
With Forbes’ description of the space game, the impression arises that Star Citizen is an unbounded project, where the creatives around Chris Roberts have the say and do not have to follow any rules. The “Star Citizen” project and the ambitions behind it swell with the money coming in.
Mark Day, a producer whose company worked on Star Citizen in 2013 and 2014, says:
“As the money flowed, some of Roberts’ old habits resurfaced – he is not exactly super-focused. In my view, it got out of control. The promises that were made, the feature creep, or whatever you want to call it: now we can do this, now we can do that – I was shocked.”
It is stated that there were discussions with 20 former employees of Cloud Imperium Games, who predominantly portray Chris Roberts as a micromanager, who poorly manages resources.
By 2017, Chris Roberts allegedly only had $14 million left and therefore had to raise more money. None of the 100 star systems were finished – he only had two nearly finished planets, nine moons, and an asteroid.
This is the accusation: At one point it is mentioned: This is not fraud, Roberts is really working on a game, but it is a matter of mismanagement and incompetence on a galactic scale.
Roberts would interfere in every little detail, taking every decision for himself and thereby hindering the progress of the project.
The lead character artist, David Jennison, reportedly complained that he could only finish 5 characters in 17 months of work because Roberts repeatedly withdrew his approval from characters Jennison had been working on.
However, the article does not delve deeper into the matter. It is already remarkable that in an article about Star Citizen, almost only Chris Roberts and his wife are discussed.
This would be a pattern that was repeated throughout the company, Jennison had supposedly written in a letter to the HR department.
The money goes out of Star Citizen as quickly as it comes in.
The impression is conveyed that much working time is spent trying to present Star Citizen as spectacular as possible to boost the sales of virtual ships.
Chris Roberts is portrayed as a failed filmmaker who had no success in Hollywood and has now returned to gaming.
What are the personal details? Particularly spicy is a story about Sandi Gardiner, Chris Roberts’ wife. Roberts supposedly annulled his first marriage with Gardiner in 2005.
In 2007, Roberts allegedly obtained a restraining order against Gardiner for stalking his then partner and her child. Gardiner was prohibited from coming closer than 91 meters to Roberts’ partner.
Gardiner is said to have also tried to strangle Roberts during that time.
However, Roberts supposedly wants nothing more to do with that restraining order now. Roberts is said to have remarried Gardiner in 2009. She is now responsible for marketing and is said to be “objectively successful,” according to Roberts.
Forbes states that Gardiner is a 43-year-old Australian actress still waiting for a breakthrough in Hollywood. She is also the marketing head of Cloud Imperium Games and primarily responsible for raising funds for the company.
It is implied between the lines that CIG is staging the cinematic story around Squadron 42 with big actors partly because
- Roberts enjoys directing
- Gardiner wants to star in it
- it is good for the PR of Star Citizen.
The article also raises questions about how much salary Roberts, Gardiner, and Roberts’ brother are receiving. All three hold positions in the company. These questions remain unanswered.
What’s behind it: The article paints a negative picture of Star Citizen and the dangers of crowdfunding.
The way the article identifies the problem with individuals and thus portrays the images of eccentric people with broken biographies provides fuel for the fire.
However, the article does not delve deeper into the matter. It is already remarkable that in an article about Star Citizen, almost only Chris Roberts and his wife are discussed.
