The plot is either thickening or getting muddier depending on how one reads this latest bit of news uncovered by Star Citizen fans, as a couple of followers of the project have shared a trademark filing by developer Cloud Imperium Games for what could be a third title.
The trademark filing in question is for something called Soulsinger, which is classed as downloadable computer or video game software, specifically an “online massively multi-player video game.” The revelation was shared on the game’s official forums and on Reddit yesterday, though the filing itself was made near the end of June.
Naturally details of what Soulsinger actually is are murky considering the wide net a trademark filing has to cast, but rumors from a supposed former CIG dev claim that it’s “a fantasy-inspired title” that leverages CIG’s StarEngine tech, with development being handled by a small team supposedly led by Tony Zurovec, the current Director of Persistent Universe for Star Citizen.
As one might expect, this discovery has not sparked a lot of joy among backers of SC, with most presuming that CIG is already trying to work on a third game without fully releasing its other two projects, others wondering if the studio is even allowed to funnel crowdbacked funds in such a way, and at least a few suggesting that Soulsinger is the name of another major tool for SC itself.
Another Redditor pointed out how Ortwin Sam Freyermuth, a long-time collaborator with Chris Roberts and the third largest shareholder of CIG, left his role about a day after the trademark filing, though as fellow blogger The Nosy Gamer points out, it looks more as if Freyermuth is simply retiring. His shares were transferred to other shareholders, the majority of which reportedly went to Clive and Keith Calder; this is important since it could strengthen the pair’s already sizeable ownership of the company and could further damage CIG if they exercise an option to cash out.
We hasten to point out that much of this news regarding Soulsinger is purely conjecture at this point, particularly since CIG itself isn’t obviously saying a word about the whole matter of the trademark or the goings-on behind the scenes. Regardless, it’s another worrying layer on the parfait of weirdness that is the studio’s development path.
