Crytek and Cloud Imperium Games settle Star Citizen lawsuit

Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games has settled its lawsuit with Crytek over the alleged misuse of the latter's CryEngine.

Crytek's lawsuit, which first came to light last December, argued its licence with Cloud Imperium only granted the Star Citizen developer the right to use CryEngine for one game. Since the agreement was made, however, development of Star Citizen has splintered off into two separate projects - Star Citizen and standalone single-player story title Squadron 42 - which Crytek believed contravened the terms of its licence with CIG.

Crytek was also unhappy that CIG had removed its logo from Star Citizen's marketing material, despite their inclusion allegedly being part of an agreement between the two parties to licence CryEngine at a "below-market rate".

In response, Cloud Imperium argued it had long since switched to Amazon's Lumberyard engine, making Crytek's lawsuit "meritless" - although Crytek also insisted CIG had promised to use CryEngine exclusively to develop the Star Citizen game.

Things took a surprise turn in January when Crytek moved to dismiss its own lawsuit and reschedule the trial for October. The company said it believed there was no point proceeding with the originally scheduled June 2020 date as it had learned Squadron 42 was "not yet ripe", and questions surrounding the nature and timing of its release remained.

It also further disputed CIG's claim that it had switched from CryEngine to Lumberyard, saying the Star Citizen developer had been "forced to confirm during this litigation that no such switch had taken place."

Cloud Imperium hit back in a strongly worded court document just a few weeks later, calling Crytek's lawsuit "meritless in light of CIG's separate licence with Amazon". Not only did it claim the licence expressly granted CIG the right to use CryEngine and to develop Squadron 42, it said Crytek had even received confirmation from Amazon that CryEngine was included in the Lumberyard licence granted to CIG in 2016.

"CIG's separate licence with Amazon operates as a complete defense against Crytek's remaining claims so they too never should have been brought," it said.

At the time, Crytek was seeking a dismissal without prejudice, while CIG argued for a dismissal with prejudice, which would force Crytek to pay some or all of its legal fees. According to a new court filing, however, an agreement between the two parties has now been reached, although specifics have yet to be disclosed.

Cloud Imperium and Crytek say they have reached an agreement "in principle of terms to settle this action in its entirety", and have requested 30 days to file their joint stipulation of dismissal.

Will you support Eurogamer?

We want to make Eurogamer better, and that means better for our readers - not for algorithms. You can help! Become a supporter of Eurogamer and you can view the site completely ad-free, as well as gaining exclusive access to articles, podcasts and conversations that will bring you closer to the team, the stories, and the games we all love. Subscriptions start at £3.99 / $4.99 per month.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7psHRqJ6apZWne6%2Bx02iaq7Gkmrhurc2dZJykn6qxbrXMqZyroaWieqitzJ6qZquVqcGtsYysq5qqXZi2tbXZnqVmpJGswLa10w%3D%3D