In a strange turn of events, it seems like developers Crytek and theStar CitizenandSquadron 42developers – Cloud Imperium Games Corporation ICIG) and Roberts Space Industries Corporation – lawsuit may not be happening. In recent court filings (spotted in Reddit), the two companies have supported a dismissal of the case following some new information. However, according to Crytek, this new information may lend itself to false advertising to the early backers ofSquadron 42.
As a bit of background,Star CitizenandSquadron 42developers CIG were sued by Crytek, believing that CIG were improperly using their licensed engine on two standalone games. They only had a license to use the engine for one:Star Citizen. As most court cases shake out, both studios had to share information on their projects and their futures. Some of these answers led directly to Crytek rethinking the lawsuit, and asking to dismiss it until after the launch ofSquadron 42.
According to the court documents (which is heavily redacted), recent information provided to Crytek from CIG indicates thatSquadron 42will not be a standalone game, and likely will not be releasing in 2020. This is, according to Crytek, contrary to “multiple public statements CIG indicating the release of Squadron 42 as a standalone game with [the] release set for the first half of 2020.” This relates to the broadest advertising ofSquadron 42, where Crytek alleges that CIG says one thing to their backers and a totally different thing behind closed doors:
This case has been marked by a pattern of CIG saying one thing in its public statements and another in this litigation. For example, at the outset of this case, CIG had publicly claimed it had switched to using the Lumberyard Engine for both Star Citizen and Squadron 42, but was forced to confirm during this litigation that no such switch had taken place….The fact that CIG denied Crytek the credits to which it was due under the parties GLA without actually switching game engines is the basis for Crytek’s “credits claim” in this case.
With this in mind, Crytek has now taken the position that they will try to dismiss the case until the point (if ever) thatSquadron 42is released as a standalone game, not just as a part ofStar Citizen. However, Crytek doesn’t even fully believe that CIG knows how or when they are hoping to releaseSquadron 42. In a similarly redacted section of the court filings, Crytek says that CIG has not decided howSquadron 42will eventually be released:
Crytek caps off this section by saying that this unknown strategy will undoubtedly come as a surprise to many of the customers and gamers that pre-paid forSquadron 42.
In any case, it looks like the lawsuit is off for the time being, while CIG has their hands significantly tied withSquadron 42and what they are hoping to do with it.Squadron 42has been another massive crowdfunding source of revenue for CIG. The projects haveaccumulated a quarter-billion dollars (yes, with a ‘B’)for CIG, whileSquadron 42may or may not be hittingits previously revealed 2020 beta.
So if you are aStar Citizenfan and a hopeful player ofSquadron 42, these results are no doubt a mixed bag. In any case check out the Visual Trailer ofSquadron 42below, showing off some of the work CIG has done in developing the game in 2019:
