The crowdfunding mammoth game Star Citizen has taken out a loan from a bank. The collateral is immense. The news is interpreted in various ways.
Star Citizen is a polarizing game. Some fans will not hear a word against the mammoth project, seeing themselves as a kind of fortress around founder Chris Roberts, whose game, vision, and family they protect. They want to defend the game against evil trolls and clueless idiots who keep asking when it will finally be released.
Star Citizen is polarizing
These “White Knights”, these knights in shining armor, could be laughed at, however, there are undoubtedly “evil forces” that are hostile to Star Citizen and consider the space game a scam.
Foremost among them is Derek Smart, who develops games himself and is a self-proclaimed sworn enemy of Chris Roberts and his project.
The leaders of both camps seem to enjoy conspiracies. While Derek Smart believes that Star Citizen is one big scam, Chris Roberts senses his arch-enemy behind criticism and attacks. There are plenty of attacks. Attacks on the game, on Chris Roberts, and on his wife. The attacks also come from the gaming press, in the form of some ugly articles on The Escapist, which have since been deleted.
Star Citizen – Flames, scandals, and financial interests, fun for the whole family
The battle between both camps has raged in the media and in the comment sections of Star Citizen for years. Under every article that contains a hint of controversy, this battle rages on.
A small group of Star Citizen fans apparently believes: If a journalist criticizes Star Citizen or raises doubts, they are clueless and have not understood something, or they just want to create unfair clicks at the game’s expense. Anyone who gives Derek Smart a stage is already a hater and enemy of the game and must be fought.
Flame tourists, on the other hand, have now made it a game to bash the game because they know how much it will upset the Star Citizen fans. On the GameStar site, articles about Star Citizen have been the most commented for years. The comments are always so entertaining.
Loan taken by CIG with high collateral
Currently, this battle has flared up again and it shows what hard measures are being taken regarding Star Citizen.
As was revealed in the forum Neogaf and also in the Star Citizen subreddit, the UK branch of the company behind Star Citizen, Cloud Imperium Games UK, or its subsidiary Foundry 42 Limited, has taken out loans from the bank “Coutts & Co” in Britain. As collateral, CIG UK essentially puts up everything the company owns: the code, the distribution rights, the brand, and so on.
One news – three interpretations
The news is primarily read in three ways:
- Supporters of Star Citizen, especially in the subreddit of the game, say: This is a completely normal business practice. This should give us all courage. A reputable bank believes in the success of Star Citizen, otherwise they wouldn’t lend them money. They have scrutinized CIG thoroughly and concluded: Everything is fine.
- The critics of the game, represented on Neogaf, view the loan skeptically: Why would a company that has earned 148 million US dollars through crowdfunding take out a loan that puts up such extensive collateral? There is a suspicion that CIG may run out of money and the future of the project is in danger. Their harshest interpretation is: Star Citizen now belongs to a bank.
- Calm minds say, we must now wait until more details come to light.
One person also says: I already know who this news will particularly please. And indeed, Derek Smart is firing on all cylinders.
For Smart, the news is like Christmas. He now sees his theory confirmed. The bank now practically owns CIG. Anyone who says otherwise is either bought or has their own interests, wanting to sell their Star Citizen ships profitably. As mentioned: Derek Smart enjoys conspiracy theories.
Update 25.6. 11:30 PM: There is an official statement from CIG. It states that the loan is a “clever money management move” to avoid exchange losses. The terms of the loan are standard. These are all just formalities.
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