In what’s probably a surprising bit of news considering the two year-long legal fight between CIG and Crytek, it appears that the Star Citizen developer has managed to get a perpetual license for the CryEngine from Crytek. The license acquisition was included in CIG’s annual report and financial statements for 2019, which announced the license agreement as part of the studio’s investment in technology:
“During 2020, [CIG] further strengthened its position as a AAA game developer by acquiring a perpetual license for CryEngine from game development platform provider Crytek GmBH, ensuring the business continues to be agile in developing its revolutionary technology.”
Readers will recall that both CIG and Crytek were in a heated legal shoving match that first kicked off in 2017 with Crytek filing a copyright infringement suit. A battle of filings ensued that stretched through into 2019, ultimately ending with an order for both sides to hash it out in an alternative dispute resolution process. Andy McAdams summarized the entire scuffle in his Lawful Neutral column in May 2019.
