The legal dispute between the company behind Star Citizen, Cloud Imperium Games, and the German engine developer Crytek is intensifying. CIG is now demanding $500,000 in court, claiming they have been harassed with a frivolous lawsuit. CIG has harsh words for Crytek.
What is the lawsuit about? Star Citizen was originally developed using Crytek’s Cryengine; since the end of 2016, Star Citizen has been using the “Amazon Lumberyard” engine, which is based on the Cryengine.
Crytek filed a lawsuit against Star Citizen at the end of 2017. They argue that Cloud Imperium Games only acquired the rights to develop a game using the Cryengine, namely Star Citizen. However, they are developing 2 with it: Star Citizen and the singleplayer module Squadron 42. That would not be acceptable.
Star Citizen denies this. Squadron 42 would even be launched with the same launcher as Star Citizen; furthermore, they are now using the Amazon Lumberyard Engine, so the lawsuit is baseless.
This was the latest development: After the legal dispute had been dragging on for a while, Crytek requested the court at the beginning of January 2020 to dismiss their own lawsuit for the time being because Squadron 42 has not been released yet and has been postponed repeatedly.
However, Crytek has announced that they want to resume the legal dispute as soon as Squadron 42 is released. Then the lawsuit would be “ripe.”
Take their keys away
This is what Star Citizen says now: They respond to their court filing with biting remarks. They want, after Crytek’s withdrawal, to have some of their own legal costs reimbursed by Crytek.
It is stated that CIG has incurred legal fees of over $900,000 so far. From that, they want to receive at least $500,000 from Crytek.
Crytek’s lawsuit has been sharply criticized as being frivolous from the start. Crytek is only seeking attention.
At one point, it says:
Crytek should not be allowed to simply take a ride on CIG’s loading window, to accelerate through the window, to drift donuts for years, to just reverse, turn around, and then maybe crash back into CIG.
Crytek deserves to have their keys taken away forever, so that CIG can responsibly manage their business without interference from Crytek and their lawyers.
From CIG’s filing to the court
Crytek now has until February 7 to respond to CIG’s reply.
A clear statement from Cloud Imperium Games. Recently, they have been using strong words for critics:
