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 :
1) 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
2) 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
Never Forget how it all
started back in 2016How Ben Parry promoted a blatant lieI particularly
loved this partDon't worry, I will never make out that any narrative is simplistic.
I fully accept that Mr Smart being wrong doesn't really affect the status of development, but if he shows up somewhere that I am, saying things that are wrong, I'm going to say that he's wrong. I try to stick to verifiables but when it comes to shoving words in the mouths of "all game developers" or "anyone in the industry" or whatever, just disagreeing with him is, effectively, a verifiable counter argument.