Cloud Imperium and Crytek finally settle their long legal dispute

For the last few years, Star Citizen's battles haven't been high-flying dogfights. Instead, developers Cloud Imperium have been tangled in a dispute with Crytek, exchanging heated legal blows in lieu of laser blasts. But now, at long last, it seems the two warships declared a long-overdue ceasefire. Court documents posted this week reveal that Crytek and Cloud Imperium have agreed to settle the former's lawsuit.

Cloud Imperium and Crytek have been at each other's throats since at least 2017. Around that time, Star Citizen had switched its development engine from CryEngine to Amazon's Lumberyard (which, notably, is itself built from a CryEngine tech base).

Crytek had a few grievances to spill. Splitting Star Citizen's Squadron 42 singleplayer component allegedly violated the engine's license agreement - though Crytek also had doubts that Star Citizen development had transferred away from CryEngine in the first place.

The two firms came to blows as recently as last month. In a rather sneaky move, Crytek sought to have their own suit dismissed without prejudice - waiting for a firm release date for Squadron 42 so they could start again on firmer ground. In response, Cloud Imperium accused them of wanting to "aim [their] car at CIG’s storefront window, stomp the accelerator, smash through, do doughnuts for years, then back out and drive away to maybe circle around and crash CIG again another day." Brutal.

But finally, it looks like the two have come to an agreement. Court documents (via Eurogamer) released earlier this week reveal that Crytek and Cloud Imperium have agreed to settle the matter. Terms of the settlement have yet to be disclosed, though both parties have 27 days to "document and execute their agreement" and file for dismissal.

Hopefully, it's the last we'll hear of Star Citizen's long legal woes. I'm no lover of Cloud Imperium's galactic money pit, but there was something uncomfortably opportunistic about Crytek's suit, scrambling to keep itself relevant as Star Citizen warped away at increasing speed. In any case, It's certainly not the last we'll be hearing of Chris Roberts' space opus.

Any chance of sharing that release date anytime soon, eh?