Thursday, December 14th 2017
Crytek Sues Cloud Imperium Games for Breach of CryEngine Contract
Crytek has filed a suit against Cloud Imperium Games (developers of Star Citizen and Squadron 42) for wrongdoings regarding Crytek's CryEngine. Cloud Imperium Games has recently moved over to Amazon's Lumberyard, a free, cross-platform triple-A game engine which has been built-upon by Amazon, based and licensed from Crytek's CryEngine in 2015. Apparently, in doing so, Cloud Imperium Games has violated a number of agreed-upon items on their engine licensing contract, for which Crytek is now going after for damages and compensation.
The essence of the suit stands in that Crytek only licenced its engine for the development of a single game - Star Citizen - and that CIG is now developing a second one in Squadron 42, for which it had no rights to use Crytek's IP and assets. Futhermore, CIG agreed, when signing the contract, to use Crytek's logos as part of the game development and final game presentation, so as to provide awareness for the company, but has since removed them from all instances of the game.Crytek is also saying that they "invested significant time and expense in creating impressive demonstrations and proofs-of-concept that were used to persuade the public to contribute financially to a "crowdfunding" campaign to support development of the video game.", of which they really have no gains to show for. As part of the suit, Crytek is going after at least $75,000 in direct damages (excluding all indirect damages), as well as a percentage of the profits CIG achieves with its games, among other forms of compensation - all to be determined in court.CIG has responded to the Crytek lawsuit as it was originally covered in DSOGaming, saying that "We are aware of the Crytek complaint having been filed in the US District Court. CIG hasn't used the CryEngine for quite some time since we switched to Amazon's Lumberyard. This is a meritless lawsuit that we will defend vigorously against, including recovering from Crytek any costs incurred in this matter." I guess we'll see all about this fight, won't we?
Sources:
DSOGaming, Crytek Lawsuit @ SCRIBD
The essence of the suit stands in that Crytek only licenced its engine for the development of a single game - Star Citizen - and that CIG is now developing a second one in Squadron 42, for which it had no rights to use Crytek's IP and assets. Futhermore, CIG agreed, when signing the contract, to use Crytek's logos as part of the game development and final game presentation, so as to provide awareness for the company, but has since removed them from all instances of the game.Crytek is also saying that they "invested significant time and expense in creating impressive demonstrations and proofs-of-concept that were used to persuade the public to contribute financially to a "crowdfunding" campaign to support development of the video game.", of which they really have no gains to show for. As part of the suit, Crytek is going after at least $75,000 in direct damages (excluding all indirect damages), as well as a percentage of the profits CIG achieves with its games, among other forms of compensation - all to be determined in court.CIG has responded to the Crytek lawsuit as it was originally covered in DSOGaming, saying that "We are aware of the Crytek complaint having been filed in the US District Court. CIG hasn't used the CryEngine for quite some time since we switched to Amazon's Lumberyard. This is a meritless lawsuit that we will defend vigorously against, including recovering from Crytek any costs incurred in this matter." I guess we'll see all about this fight, won't we?
48 Comments on Crytek Sues Cloud Imperium Games for Breach of CryEngine Contract
EDIT: They also heavily relied on CiG to provide Crytek with bugfixes for their engine. As part of their GLA CiG said they'd send back source code to Crytek with bugfixes for their engine, optimisations etc. CiG started doing a series called bugsmashing a while back, which Crytek reference in this case. Basically a number of things have happened over the last two years between Crytek and CiG, and instead of litigating when things happened, Crytek have now decided to litigate just as they discover that CiG are trying to distance themselves from Crytek (because they're actually a bit of a cancer now) upon discovery that they're using a competitor instead. Seriously, go read the GLA between Crytek and CiG. It reeks of desperation on Crytek's part and is remarkably strict, almost on EA levels of "use Frostbite or we will execute you".
In fairness CiG shouldn't have let themselves get into this state. I am curious however about which parts of the GLA are actually able to stand in court. You can write T&Cs however you like, demanding firstborns etc, but it whether it holds it weight in law that matters.
They will fail so miserably and I will never get my money back.
www.scribd.com/document/367101474/Crytek-v-CIG
EDIT: If the Yerli brother's were unbelievable stupid, the GLA would have been legally bound between CiG and Crytek UK Limited. As such since the company was dissolved and nobody made an agreed upon update to the GLA or if there is no law automatically transferring legally binding documents like GLA's between international entities technically controlled by one another... I don't even know. I need to see that GLA.
Of course, this is a perfect excuse for another 1-2 years delay. Or maybe asking for more funds "because the lawsuit is beeding us dry". Now where did I put that popcorn?
#2 They so oversell the value of their engine. CIG/RSI abandoned Crytek because it reached a point where Crytek was dragging down production.
#3 Unless they have documented proof of that CIG/RSI contracted Crytek to invest in Star Citizen's marketing campaign, this point is going no where. Crytek likely considered any expensive an investment back into their engine at the time so those resources are simply spent and CIG/RSI is not liable for it.
#4 Basically admits #3 wasn't under contract. CIG/RSI did the things Crytek says here for years. As the scope of the project grew, it became increasingly clear that Crytek is taking more than its giving. Crytek may feel cheated, but so was CIG/RSI. Judge will take that into consideration.
#22 Unless they have documentation that proves it, I don't think this holds water. Roberts always called the single-player component of the game "Squadron 42." CIG/RSI will likely make the argument that they just gave the campaign a name (which isn't extraordinary in the game industry).
#23 Stand-alone video game...as a component of Star Citizen. You're still going to require the core game assets to play it so it's not a separate game--you're just not getting everything when you buy the standalone version.
#33/34 Crytek may have an argument here. Just because Roberts renames the engine doesn't mean he has license to do so. Roberts said "We stopped taking new builds from Crytek towards the end of 2015" so this is close to a year later. CIG/RSI's responsibility doesn't end unless there was a written agreement to do so.
#38 Is also pretty damning. Again, judge will have to take into consideration that CryEngine became a burden to development.
#39 Crytek earned the ire of CIG/RSI by being very unhelpful.
Section D: Since CIG/RSI changed to Lumberyard, this was something they could no longer do because they entered into an agreement with Amazon. The "bug fixes and optimizations" are no longer something Crytek can claim from CIG/RSI. CIG/RSI will easily argue that there was literally no changes that effect CryEngine so they didn't provide any...because there weren't any. Section D will be thrown out.
#50 I don't think will gain much traction because Star Citizen was crowdsourced. It will be an uphill climb to prove that CIG/RSI showed enough to actually damage Crytek.
#51 If Crytek can get Faceware to vouch for their claim, it will stick. If CIG/RSI can prove that they only received their own information, then it won't.
I think Crytek will probably get something for severing the contract but I suspect it will be substantially less than they want. Case in point: I highly doubt Crytek will get a share of sales like they're demanding.
Roberts cant keep his promises. As awful as it sounds, there needed to be a publisher holding his leash for star citizen to be any good. I'll be amazed if the game ever releases.
Also, It's been a while since I read something called Star Citizen, I hope it's released in my lifetime
Heck, Roberts may be creating the greatest life simulator of all time! :roll: