(tweet: CryTek has followed through on its threat to sue RSI/CIG for a litany of things, and have hired one of the best law firms in the US. link to filing)
It wasn’t long before someone paid the site’s fee and posted the entire complaint here and the drama was afoot.
“Skadden. The name, terse and uncompromising, symbolizes the most rarefied levels of corporate law, where clients throw platoons of attorneys at a problem and barely blink at the resulting $50,000-an-hour bills.”
Section 2.1.2 of the GLA expressly states that CIG has a license only to “embed CryEngine in the Game and develop the Game.” The GLA limits the use of the CryEngine computer program to a single video game called Star Citizen.
21. Exhibit 2 of the GLA states that “the Game does not include any content being sold and marketed separately,” such as content “sold and marketed as a separate, standalone PC game.”
22. On December 16, 2015, Defendants announced that “Squadron 42,” a single-player video game involving space combat, would be sold separately from Star Citizen.
23. On January 29, 2016, Defendants made a further public announcement about Squadron 42, stating that it would be made available for purchase as a stand-alone video game.
**24. On February 5, 2016, Crytek notified Defendants that their plan to distribute Squadron 42 as a standalone game was not covered by the GLA’s license, because the GLA did not grant Defendants a license to embed CryEngine in any game other than Star Citizen.
25. On February 14, 2016, Defendants moved forward with their plan for Squadron 42 notwithstanding their failure to obtain a license and began offering the video game for separate purchase. As a result, Defendants are intentionally and willfully using CryEngine without a license and in violation of copyright laws.
26. On December 23, 2016, in reference to Star Citizen and Squadron 42, Defendants announced that “oth games are currently in development and are backed by a record-breaking $139 million crowd funded effort.”
27. Crytek has not been compensated for Defendants’ unlicensed use of Crytek technology in the Squadron 42 game, and has been substantially harmed by being deprived of that compensation, which would ordinarily include a substantial up-front payment as well as a substantial royalty on game sales.**
lol at CIG hoisting themselves from their own petard
the great thing is you can be a layman and totally see how fucking bad this is
that filing is a goddamn bullet to the back of the head
Virtual Captain
On May 6, 2015, Defendants began posting a series of videos online titled “Bugsmashers.” The videos contain excerpts of information from CryEngine that were confidential, in breach of the GLA, and should not have been shown to the public. The series continues today.
CryEngine choice never seems to stop paying dividends… in comedy gold.
TheAgent
this could easily be a $50m to $100m+ lawsuit
**B. Defendants Removed Crytek Trademarks and Copyright Notices from Their Games and Marketing Materials Without Permission
28. Sections 2.8.1, 2.8.2, and 2.8.3 of the GLA contained promises by Defendants that they would prominently display Crytek’s trademarks and copyright notices in the Star Citizen video game and related marketing materials.**
29. Section 2.8.1 of the GLA expressly states that the “splash screen, credits screen, documentation and packaging (if any) as well as the marketing material” shall include “Crytek’s copyright notice.”
30. Section 2.8.2 of the GLA further states the “splash screen, credits screen, documentation and packaging (if any) as well as the marketing material” shall prominently display both the “Crytek” and “CryEngine” trademarks.
**31. Section 2.8.3 of the GLA states that any changes to Crytek’s trademarks and copyright notices in these materials requires “Crytek’s prior written approval” and a ten day approval period.
32. In accordance with those provisions of the GLA, the Star Citizen video game initially contained a splash screen that included Crytek’s trademarks and copyright notices:
33. Defendants knew Crytek’s right to display its trademarks and copyright notices in the Star Citizen video game and related marketing materials was a critical component of the GLA. Yet, by at least September 24, 2016, Defendants’ co-founder Chris Roberts publicly sought to minimize Crytek’s contribution to Star Citizen, stating that “we don’t call [the video game engine] CryEngine anymore, we call it Star Engine” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDROliuDczo).**
especially since CIG has stood from the hills proclaiming all their cash coming in and tracking it by the hour
lol
Scruffpuff
“I think you’ll see, your honor, that CIG in fact didn’t develop ANY video games, so we move to dismiss, please. Checkmate legal goonie!”
TheAgent
holy fuck at them not providing code fixes and improvements back to crytek as part of their agreement
40. Section 7.3 of the GLA contained a promise that Defendants would provide bug fixes and optimizations to CryEngine on at least an annual basis.
41. Section 7.3 of the GLA states that “[a]nnually during the Game’s development period, and again upon publication of the final Game, Licensee shall provide Crytek with any bug fixes, and optimizations made to the CryEngine’s original source code files (including CryEngine tools provided by Crytek) as a complete compilable version.”
**42. On November 16, 2015, Crytek requested long overdue bug fixes and optimizations from Defendants. Defendants did not make a good faith effort to provide Crytek with the promised bug fixes and optimizations to the CryEngine as a complete compilable version.
43. On November 24, 2016, Crytek informed Defendants that they were in breach of Section 7.3 of the GLA. Although Defendants claimed that they were ready and willing to comply with their obligations, they did not comply.
44. On June 22, 2017, Crytek sent another letter to Defendants, again requesting the bug fixes and optimizations that were promised under the GLA. To date, Defendants have not made a good faith effort to provide Crytek with the promised bug fixes and optimizations to the CryEngine as a complete, compilable version.**
45. Crytek has been damaged by Defendants’ breach of Section 7.3 of the GLA, including for the reason that Defendants have failed to provide the technology to Crytek that they promised to Crytek under the GLA, and Crytek accordingly has not benefited from use of that technology.
this is absolutely huge
like you can’t just fucking do that
what was roberts fucking thinking
this isn’t some frivolous lawsuit, this is a massive breach of almost every part of the contract they signed with crytek lol
TheAgent
fuck me I think this is probably the worst bomb right here
entering a permanent injunction enjoining and restraining Defendants from continuing to possess or use the Copyrighted Work and a preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendants, and all those acting in concert or participation with Defendants, from infringing or encouraging, aiding or abetting others to infringe the Copyrighted Work;
that basically means ‘You can’t use a single line from our engine, anywhere. Anywhere at all.’
finally time for that full engine rewrite!
VictorianQueerLit
Yeah I know nothing about legal matters but seeing about 40 different clauses of the GLA being breached is a pretty clear indication to even a layman of the scope of this.
“They contractually agreed here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here to provide things they did not provide and are unquestionably in breach of contract”
I’m sure the legendary genius visionary Chris Roberts is going to reverse this 40 point takedown in court somehow. He is obviously doing everything completely flawlessly and the dream will be amazing.
Christmas miracles really do happen
We’re now at 2:05 in The Hall of the Mountain King.
TheAgent
this also means that the faceware camera might completely be stalled, as the underlying technology was shared with them without CryTeks approval
On August 26, 2017, news reports announced a partnership between Defendants and a third party developer, Faceware Technologies. Upon information and belief, as a result of the partnership, Faceware received access to the underlying technology for CryEngine (including computer source code). Defendants did not disclose this third party developer’s involvement to Crytek, let alone obtain Crytek’s prior written approval. This was entirely in breach of the GLA.
lol
VictorianQueerLit
News hit the r/starcitizen discord. Some highlights
CIG bundles SQ42 and SC into one game pack toss the Crytek logo on the start up screen don’t show any behind the scenes screens and pay a few mill and be done with it
Plus there are probably hundreds of loopholes and “language” in the contracts etc that lawyers will spend 5 years go over and will probablt end up with a small settlement
Copyright is stupid for coding that way
coding is viewed as an art form, and is only covered verbatim
We’ll make the owner of CryEngine disappear
amazon will just give CIG money to fight it
Backers haven’t decided how they want to spin this yet. They are furiously bouncing between
CryTek just wants Money!
StarEngine isn’t CryEngine!
Lumberyard isn’t CryEngine!
StarEngine both is and is not Lumberyard which is not CryEngine!
They can just throw logos in and be done with it!
Just starve Crytek out, they will run out of money to sue!
Amazon will save the day!
Sarsapariller
Citizen olympic-level mental gymnastics have begun:
Ortwin will come out as the ultimate inverse-reverse-super-troll.
Crytek: “Fuck, no one wants to license our engine as it’s a kinda one-trick-pony, and sucks at multiplayer….we’re running out of cash, and can’t do anything about it”
Ortwin: “I know this one guy - stupid as a brick - who once made Wing Commander…he still has a big following, and the gerne is kinda dead….they all long for a spacesim MMO”
Crytek: “You can’t make an MMO with our engine, it won’t work!”
Ortwin: “I know….” evilgrinortwin buys Crytek shares at min value
(tweet: looks like @Crytek is hurting for money so they want to pick on @RobertsSpaceInd I really hope Chris unleashes the full fire and fury that is Ortwin; Hey @Crytek get over the butt hurt!)
(tweet: I just think it’s s big waste of court time and our pledge money. Maybe I should sue @Crytek for trying to take my $52K)
Virtual Captain
I thought Clifford was dedicated to the dream. Now I find out he is only in for $52K?
Weak. Pledge harder next time.
Well, the pretty funny thing is that they’re fucked no matter what the truth is ( assuming Crytek’s claims are right ofc ).
If they indeed switched to LY, that was against the terms that said they should use CE exclusively.
If they did not switch, showing the source-code to Faceware was against the terms that said they needed to seek authorization before doing so.
Pick up your poison.
TheAgent
naw, like derek said, this is the first stumble down a long flight of stairs
every fucked over partner, everyone they owe money to, anyone that even thinks they might not get cashed out from roberts n co is going to start coming to collect what’s theirs
I’m not overstating when I say this is a huge fucking deal
I just love how royally fucked they are no matter what. They can’t say they didn’t switch engines because of all of the points they broke, but they can’t say they switched either because that is ALSO breaking the contract.
To the newly registered Skadden lawyers dudes who just registered an SA account
CIG is going to claim: Game? What game? All we have is an alpha tech demo at best. There is no game here. SQ42 and Star Citizen is simply market speak for raising money–they are both the same thing! Missing splash screen logos? These are test builds–you don’t understand game development.
And as was called long ago–all CIG has done with Lumberyard is change a few calls to work with Amazon servers instead of Google. i.e. CIG never broke the switching engine clause because they never really switched engines.
But I’m only hoping for maximum comedy. And probably the funniest will be the Skadden lawyers figuring out there hasn’t been any money for six months plus.
Here’s a little song I wrote, you might want to learn it note for note, don’t worry be happy
[Fetching Legal Documents]
peter gabriel
CryTek: ‘So if we win we get everything?’
Lawyer:‘yup’
CryTek: ‘Assets, rights, all of it?’
Lawer: ‘yup, even their web site lol’
CryTek: ‘and, and erm, their customers?’
Lawyer: ‘yup, their customers, community, all of it’
CryTek: ‘commm, community?’
Lawyer: Yes your honour our client would like to drop the case
i just talked to a pretty fancy lawyer and he’s not as optimistic about this lawsuit as most. he says sicne the game isn’t out and probably won’t ever be they basically can’t show profits and any money they collect related to the crowdfunding stuff would have to be stipulated in the contract CIG breached. also the permanent injunction only barely maybe stands a chance as it relates to squadron 42 not star citizen because that’s all contract breach stuff not copyright infringement stuff
Star Citizen is undone due to Face Over IP. Incredible
If this mob was going to fall apart over anything, it’d be the most extravagant and useless feature-promise they never actually included in the game
Yeah they’re turbofucked. The very best case is this is without merit and thrown out the moment it gets in front of a judge, and there’s no other 100% guaranteed legal action coming their way (lol).
Even then it will have (or has?) done so much damage to their already terrible reputation they’ll never recover. It’ll be that much harder to hire staff, and the backers they rely on will lose confidence. They aren’t a normal company with a viable product and steady income, they’re operating on presales in the hope of actually finishing something one day and it being a huge success.
Star citizen is a big joke and is going to go down in infamy. Crobbers legacy is going to be overseeing one of the biggest disasters in gaming history.
peter gabriel
No, there is no other road than 100% comedy here.
Take for example the best case scenario for backers - CIG wins, Crytek are defeated and Star Citizen releases.
Every. single. time. a backer loads the game up, there will be a Crytek logo there and every time the backer will feel impotent rage. Each session in the ‘Universe will begin with a feeling of resentment.
Beet Wagon
Hey remember when we were all like “haha lol the only devs they have are brand new FullSail grads” and reddit was like “Nuh uh they’re all experts”
welp
It’s kinda funny how CIG will be in full crisis management mode over something and Ben’s Twitter just has something like “They’re not printing any Star Trek books this month. :( “
(banditloaf tweet: deleted)
Don’t worry guys Crytek is just about bankrupt anyway…
If Cryteks employee count truly is over 550, that money would have been burned through quickly, especially given how bad their leadership seems to be.
If CryTek would go bankrupt, he could have continued to use his custom CE code without having to pay for it. That’s probably why he didn’t pay them, just waiting for them to fall over and having an engine for free. When Amazon saved CryTek, Chris knew he was fucked and had to pay CryTek. By switching to Lumberyard, he tried to avoid those costs. Probably.
I really, honestly, 100% doubt there’s going to be a settling out of court. As multiple people who know better than me covered, you don’t go to Skadden if you’re planning to just ‘settle out of court’. These guys don’t get out of bed for anything but blood in the water. And I feel like CIG couldn’t actually settle with what they have on tap, nor would they - it seems entirely CIG to try and fight this out without realizing how horrifically outmatched in the legal department they currently are.
Man when you put it that way it sounds like CIG’s legal defense is Toast.
I can’t fathom that any Shitizen would think that Crytek hired Skadden for a quick 100k or so. 1/4th of the team that peeled a half billion off of oculus is going to do similar work for less than a thousandth the payday? Not fuckin likely, bucko. Each lawyer on that team is going to pocket 7 figures minimum. I really do feel bad for the people who just wanted to play a fun cool game, but goddamn man. From an observer’s perspective this whole endeavor seemed like a kid who won a paper airplane contest in middleschool decided to crowdfund a mission to proxima centauri. Actually that’s a bit generous as I think the average bright middle school kid probably has better organizational skills than the Crobbler
This goes to the heart of what has happened to all the money in my view.
Chris Roberts couldn’t have built the demo without Crytek, on kickstarter launch day CIG’s (subcontractor, built) website crashed, so CIG switched subcontractors to Turbulent. This is a pattern that repeats, there are so many ex-subcontractors, Turbulent are understandably a lot harder to ditch now than normal.
Not even sure this covers all the ones we know about (faceware, Side for casting etc), never mind the ones that were never made public. Now consider that Chris Roberts doesn’t seem able to do much himself, so he hires people, after a while the relationship normally ends. It now appears, the relationship sometimes ends very badly
Crobby! We gotta go back! Back to before the “engine switch!” Something’s gotta be done about your lawsuits!
Virtual Captain
[StarCitizen Tracker Guy: Great drama Derek, any idea how long CryTek has been in contact with Skadden over this?
thedereksmart: almost a year. they were doing their homework. I have been talking about this in my secure channel all year long. then I started hinting at “wait until they see what comes next” when I knew this lawsuit was close. Then it hit. Of course I broke the news because I was aware of it the minute it was filed.
StarCitizen Tracker Guy: wew
StarCitizen Tracker Guy: One thing I don’t get is why CryTek waited till CIG had no money left (allegedly)
News hit the r/starcitizen discord. Some highlights
