Today, news just broke that Crytek GmbH, the developer of the Crysis series, and Cloud Imperium, the developer of the long-gestating Star Citizen and Squadron 42, have settled the Crytek Star Citizen lawsuit.
Filed today, the Notice of Settlement is just that, telling the court that both the Plaintiff (Crytek) and the Defendant (Cloud Imperium) have reached a settlement and that they "working to document the terms of the agreement." Besides that, they asked the court to allow them 30 days to "document and execute their agreement" while also filing their joint agreement for a dismissal of the lawsuit.
Last month, a motion to dismiss had been filed by Crytek. However, at the time Crytek was also publicly considering refiling after Squadron 42 was released by Cloud Imperium. Now it looks as though Crytek has reached a settlement for the situation, likely bringing an end to a legal action which began in 2017 for Copyright Infringement and Breach of Contract.
Cloud Imperium Games' official statement back then also showed that they meant business:
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.
Both sides were publicly entrenched in their positions, but it appears over two years of legal action, bills, and discussions led to them finding some common ground. It's important to note that settlements don't necessarily mean that either party accepts responsibility or blame. Instead, sometimes both parties decide that ending a lawsuit and pursuing their own ventures is more valuable than wasting everyone's time and money in something that may or may not pan out, often with one side making a payment of some sort, that is less then they could face if they lost in the court room.
Both sides have until March 23 to file their dismissals, so maybe then we'll find out for sure what caused both sides to settle. It is possible, however, perhaps even likely, that the agreement will end up covered in a giant pile of NDAs leaving us with nothing but questions.
Regardless, TechRaptor has also sent emails to both parties, as well as the lawyers that represented both parties. The moment we receive word back from any of them, we'll update this article with the new information.
What do you think of the Crytek Star Citizen lawsuit settlement? Who do you think was in the wrong? Let us know in the comments!
