Star Citizen Woes

[Mecron]

that's what weirds me the most...If I was worried about people and product then I would have recreated a super beautiful WC game just as a treat and delivered it a year and a half ago. Any scenario that accounts for why he hasn't yet is not particularly good.

[Slashman]

I think Squadron 42 is supposed to have a good chunk of its gameplay be FPS so if that module is incomplete, then I guess that holds production back.

We are light years away from anything resembling the original Kickstarter goals.

Right now, if someone came along and pitched a game based on the original kickstarter goals ONLY, I'd throw some cash at it with not much hesitation if they seemed legit enough. Because those goals were pretty reasonable.

[Nspace]

And now there's a Breach of Contract lawsuit:

Star Citizen sued by Crytek

Seems that Crytek has a contract with Cloud Imperium Games and Roberts Space Industries that deals with many aspects of the use of Cryengine, which seem to have been taken more as guidelines instead of as actual rules by CIG/RSI. Looking at what is being alleged, it seems that CIG is in a no win scenario as either they changed engines to Lumberyard, which is a contract violation, or they are still using Cryengine but not fulfilling multiple other parts of their contract, which is a contract violation. And depending on the time frame involved in the lawsuit, CIG might actually be in violation of all of the above at one point or another.

This makes me wonder if this was Roberts exit strategy all along. Take peoples money, pay themselves the big bucks, sign contracts that they then violate in obvious ways, get sued, declare bankruptcy and walk away with the money safely in their personal accounts.

[Slashman]

That's certainly one way to do it.

My only reservation with that theory is that Roberts seems to actually have a big enough ego to think they could pull off what they ended up promising with the runaway stretch goals. But I'm not glued to it either so you might be right on that one Nspace.

Also seems the amount of money being sought is relatively small. Around $75000. To CIG that is literally a single exclusive concept ship sale for a week or so.

[Nspace]

If I had a bet, I'd say that Roberts actually believes that they can do everything that they have promised and that my idea on the exit strategy is just me being cynical.

As for the money, apparently the minimum amount of money you can seek for damages in Cali is $75,000, so you have to assert that at least that amount is at stake. In the actual filing, the wording is suitably vague enough that Crytek can ask for much more, essentially saying "we haven't determined the exact amount of damages we want to ask for yet, but it is at least above the minimum".

[Cpt. Awesome]

I'm just curious if Crytek thought this through. While they may legally be in the right, are they poisoning the well for themselves?

In a hypothetical future where this kills Star Citizen, are the consumers or the creators in the gaming industry going to thank them? Or will there be a few million pissed off people who will never have their money touch a product associated with Crytek again?

[Slashman]

Gamers have notoriously short memories...well except for SOTS 2. Apparently that will never be forgotten or forgiven.

Seriously though...show a hyped enough and pretty enough game and likely the lot of them will be dipping into their wallets once again.

[Slashman]

Just saw a news blurb that CIG is selling 10% of its company to finance marketing for Squadron 42.

My question is...is there any one who doesn't have this game yet that doesn't know about it?

[ZedF]

I don't know much about Squadron 42 but am not interested in supporting CIG, so don't really care about it.

[Mecron]

well the good news is that after 200 million dollars we SHOULD have a single player game in a year!

Has anyone figured out that the fanbase has made him rich forever already?

[Slashman]

I think the fans are all zombies by now so no one cares. Honestly...I don't think this guy can do any wrong. Which in itself is scary.

Seven years and still going is impressive.

[Mecron]

with even half the money invested, he has not a care in the world.

[Slashman]

Here's an interesting document that CIG released about how much they've spent so far on Star Citizen.

[Mecron]

Did I miss anything about reported interest made on this money over the years?

[Slashman]

Never was mentioned. I don't know if he is obligated to mention it by law.