Lawsuit between Star Citizen developer and Crytek ends

The lawsuit between Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games and CryEngine developer Crytek is suspended. It is not yet clear whether this will continue in the future. Crytek accused CIG of violating contract terms.

Crytek stated that Cloud Imperium Games was licensed to make a single game with the CryEngine, but that Star Citizen and single player module Squadron 42 would be two different games. Cloud Imperium considers this irrelevant as it switched to Amazon’s CryEngine-based Lumberyard engine in 2016. According to Crytek, getting off the CryEngine is also a violation of the agreements. That writes, among others, Eurogamer.

The end of the lawsuit already seemed likely. In January of this year, Crytek filed a petition with the court to close the case. This is because Squadron 42 was ‘not yet finished’ and the nature and release date of the single player element were still so uncertain that the matter was still pointless.

Crytek wanted to set the case aside without prejudice, meaning it could file the same charges again at a later date. Cloud Imperium Games wanted the opposite, which would also mean that the costs of CIG’s defense could be passed on to Crytek. Although there is now an agreement between the two, it is not yet clear whether this case will be fought again in the future. The two sides have 30 days to submit details of the closing of the case.

Star Citizen will be a mmo space simulation game. Chris Roberts, who has been responsible for games such as Freelancer and the many Wing Commander games in the past, is in charge of development. The game had raised more than $250 million through crowdfunding as of December. Parts of the game are already playable, in early access.