I can feel it, guys. 2020 is when Star Citizen will be finished and released to rapturous critical acclaim.
Nah, CIG still have issues in my ‘IANAL but I sell software licensing’ opinion. Crytek can still demonstrate, IMO, SQ42 is being developed, marketed and sold as an independant title, even though it is not ‘released’. And there are other claims as well.
As if CIG needed any more of an incentive not to release their games.
I’m not familiar with the landscape of venture capitalist investment, but perhaps these legal developments will make prospective investors think twice about any further commitments to CIG if they come calling with hat in hand.
With the latest revelations in the Crytek v CIG lawsuit, this Eurogamer article homes in on a very crucial aspect.
CIG never switched from CryEngine to Lumberyard.
“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.”
So who remembers back when I wrote a lengthy blog explaining why I had caught them blatantly lying?
Dec 2016.
They basically tried to screw Crytek by claiming to have switched to a CryEngine derivative (Lumberyard) engine for a 2nd game (SQ42).
I even engaged in a lengthy discussion with one of their own devs, Ben Parry who I mentioned in that blog. And it took me mere minutes to go through their binary code to prove it. They still.kept denying it.
Now through discovery, Crytek has the truth - and that I was right all along.
CIG are bound to prove me right once again because now they have only TWO choices :
- release SQ42 as a game mode in Star Citizen, and lose rev
A no-brainer, but it means they are forced to issue refunds to those who pre-ordered SQ42; though I doubt they will do it
- release SQ42 as a standalone game - and owe Crytek
This is where the key aspects of the lawsuit come into play; and they could owe Crytek a massive amount of money for a 2nd license
And this is precisely why Crytek is asking for a dismissal; while CIG is opposing it simply because they want to claim that they’re not in breach because SQ42 - which we now know still uses CryEngine - isn’t yet released.
I imagine that now they’ve been caught using an unlicensed engine copy, that it still represents a material breach of the GLA they signed with Crytek. Why Crytek is opting to not pursue that now can only mean one thing: inevitable settlement talks favorable to Crytek
They are still in violation because they are using an unlicensed copy of their engine for a second (SQ42) game. However, having discovered this during discovery, Crytek has now chosen not to go after them for that because once it becomes a commercial property, the damages are hundred fold. That’s why they have CIG over a [potential settlement] barrel.
Space Court!
CIG could stop what they’re doing right now and release everything they’ve done under the GPL. I think that would be the happiest outcome for the fans.
They can’t because neither Cryengine nor Lumberyard licenses will allow that
So, 1-2 years until this has been in “development” longer than Duke Nukem Forever?
Duke was in dev 97-2011, so even if we count start of SC dev as 2011 it is not quite there yet.
The scale of ineptitude and embezzlement is much larger magnitude though.
So I guess CIG responded to the request to dismissal, and well…
Second, evidence uncovered in discovery on the Amazon license shows that in May 2019 - a year and a half after launching the action - Crytek sheepishly and belatedly emailed Amazon to ask if it had truly granted CIG a license covering prior versions of CryEngine, including those licensed to CIG under the GLA. In that email, Crytek conceded that an affirmative answer would likely tank its SQ42 claim. Amazon confirmed that, yes indeed, it had done just that.
In addition to being unripe, the evidence shows that Crytek filed its SQ42 claim based on the false assumption that CIG’s license from Amazon covered only the publicly released version of Lumberyard. What Crytek did not know is that the license also included rights to prior versions of CryEngine itself, rights which Amazon granted in order to minimize the engineering time it would take CIG to migrate to Lumberyard. It was not until May 22, 2019 - a year and a half after filing this lawsuit - that Crytek finally decided to ask Amazon whether it “licensed the Cryengine itself directly to CIG,” conceding that the answer “might potentially have quite some influence on our evaluation of the legal situation . . . .” Amazon confirmed that yes, it had “included Cryengine (what you licensed to us) as part of that license to CIG.” On October 25, 2019, CIG produced a copy of the Amazon license to Crytek so it could see for itself: CIG’s separate license with Amazon operates as a complete defense against Crytek’s remaining claims so they too never should have been brought.
So apparently Crytek didn’t realize that Amazon’s license allows it to cover any version of CryEngine, not just the version at the time of Amazon picking it up? That seems like a glaring omission of knowledge by Crytek’s lawyers if true.
Does that mean CiG have won? :S
Also seems weird that - if the license precludes all the claims - CIG fought so hard to prevent Crytek starting discovery. Or just handing over a copy of the license at the start of the process as an attachment to a motion to dismiss. But then I take anything CIG says - legal filing or not - with a container shipload of salt.
Maybe at the time CIG didn’t realize they were covered by their Lumberyard license either.
So blatant ignorance?
Maybe? I mean if Crytek themselves didn’t know the terms of their licensing deal with Amazon, it does seem like it could have afflicted both sides.
Something you might do due diligence on. You know, read the contract? It’s not a game EULA.
You know I don’t work for CIG, right? I’m just speculating, so there’s no reason to get angry.