This weekend (October 19–20) Citizencon will be held, the presentation of the studio Cloud Imperium Games, because of which the company forced employees to work without days off. Journalist Tom Henderson (Tom Henderson) talked with former and current studio workers to find out how things are inside the team and what is going on with the development of Star Citizen and Squadron 42 .
Processing
Management CIG Social employees on October 1 in disappointment news: the head of production of the company Erin Roberts (Erin Roberts) said that for Citizencon everyone should try well, and therefore a seven -day working week is introduced until October 19. After the hype rose on the network, the leadership allowed to take a day off on Sunday, but only if the employee worked 56 hours a week. That is, it plowed more than 9.3 hours daily from Monday to Saturday.
According to the general laws of Great Britain, such a schedule is a crime. But in employees’ contracts CIG There is a point where they voluntarily refuse the limit of working time at 48 hours a week. To soften the damage, for everyone they will arrange a day off on October 21.
It seems that the crane for the gaming industry is not news, and the friendly team is not averse to working on your favorite project. Only in the case of CIG, According to sources Henderson, Among the employees, the atmosphere of despondency and decline reigns rather. Many say that the company is rolling into the abyss due.
$ 700 million later
Star Citizen has been under development for 12 years. CIG All this time she continued to raise funds of players as part of a crowdfunding company. At the time of writing the news, Bekers brought the studio Chris Roberts (Chris Roberts) over $ 728 million.
However Henderson I came to the conclusion that the company is running out of money. According to official reports, by the end of 2022 CIG I spent $ 637 million. The company’s expenses grew steadily, and from 2020 to 2022 the studio spent an average of $ 106 million annually. If the trend has been preserved in 2023 and 2024, then by the current moment the company either completely spent the collected money from bakers, or this amount is about to run out.
Financial problems CIG They are confirmed by the fact that the company tried to dismiss from 100 to 150 employees in Austin and Los Angeles without noise in 2024. Employees were forced to sign a non -disclosure agreement (NDA) so that they would not write on social networks that they lost their jobs. Otherwise, they threatened to refuse to pay the weekend. However, the information still leaked to the media.
Employees CIG told Henderson, that the regular indexation of salaries was suspended, and people continue to grow. Some developers barely make ends meet and think about dismissal or even a change in the field of activity.
Where the money goes? In addition to developing games, guidance CIG Likes to spend tens of thousands of pounds on designer furniture on order in style Star Citizen. The company turns its offices into "Willy Wonki factories»With plastic walls, but without useful functions. Supposedly such an approach "It extends the boundaries of development", But many bexes see only empty expenses in this.
Beginners mistakes
One of the main problems why the company is where it is now (remember, once to create the whole Star Citizen asked for only $ 2 million), is the approach Roberts To the leadership.
Chapter CIG constantly asks to add and delete new functions. His ideas add work ahead of weeks, and then everything flies into the garbage basket at his own whim. Employees told Henderson, How Roberts I canceled the functions at the seventh stage of the line, when a lot of time was spent on them.
At the same time, creative solutions on trifles on which could be spent a couple of minutes can slow down the work on the days. And from employees they demand to achieve results for which the months of work should be laid in just a few weeks.
In technical terms, the studio is still using Star Engine, which is the monster of Frankenstein based on Cryengine. The introduction and testing of new aspects of the game is constantly inhibited due to imperfection of the engine.
The company is proud of its engine.
Such conditions scare experienced developers. Many experts who could teach newcomers left the team. In addition, the leadership itself CIG It does not hesitate to take it to important positions of young guys with low salary expectations. Sometimes even employees were taken into the team without experience and education simply because they are fans of the game.
The studio makes the same mistakes that others passed 20 years ago.
Acting https://madcasino-uk.org/login/ employee CIG
In the end Star Citizen became for many the first game that they happened to work on. And the outflow of experienced personnel will continue within a year, the source said Henderson.
Will there be releases
Gameplay Squadron 42.
Employee CIG told Henderson that the plot Squadron 42 Only now she reached the polishing stage, although the studio announced this back in October 2023. This game is closest to the release and fans are waiting for the demo version of the first chapter of the action of 20 planned.
Management CIG makes a large bet on Squadron 42, Hoping to attract investors and audience. It is important for the company to find new sources of financing, because in addition to monstrous Star Citizen, Roberts I took up the development of the third game in the setting of medieval fantasy. The company needs a new project to show investors their diverse and flexibility.
About the deadlines Star Citizen There are no hints yet.
October 18, 2024 The next game from IT Takes Two authors will be in the new franchise
October 18, 2024 The launch of the coop rogalic 33 Immortals in early access was postponed until 2025
Star Citizen
Squadron 42
The best comments
Yes, this whole bubble of Star Citizen is already surprisingly tenacious. Roberts as if for a dozen years checks how much it is possible to heat the depositors and spend money incomprehensible on what
But not at all, they are not for their own and not for the money of investors work, but they live with Krautfunding and sales of virtual boats
What investments? The game budget is 100% compiled by backers who are shining only to get the game itself in one form or another.
here not to measure the whole industry. With Star Citizen, everything was clear at the very beginning, just so quickly so much money should not be spent
I remember when Elite Dangerous announced the Star Citizen simultaneously with Star Citizen. Then they were almost 2 identical in the declared mechanics of the game. At one time I bought the second, for I wanted to fly here and now in space, and not to wait for an unknown how much and it is not clear what.
You can minute, but I personally think that with the comrades who created the elitist, they completed the promised mi 100% and also did everything that they promised CIG. See for yourself:
There are flights into space? Yes. You can fly, shoot and trade + capture of spaceport with a group / alliance is present.
There is a landing on the planets? Yes. You can study (empty) planets on a wheelbarrow, diversion to arrange on it. Cool? I think yes.
Relatively recently came out the module with FPS. They wanted to run for themselves (Homo Sapiens), and not just sit in the cabin-please: go in the comments-Brody-Assembly, and bullet-shooting.
Interaction with players in the game is? Yes, up to the early version.
The graphon is good? I think yes.
My opinion: Elite Dangerous is the SC that we were once promised.
I’m not talking about current promises SC. I’m talking about how it was at the time of the collection of funds for Kickstarter.
So in Star Citize I do not believe and I consider it (at least now) a wash of money.
Elite Dangerous seems to me much better SC, if only because the basic modules of the games have already come out and they work – you can play it, and not wait for the second coming ..
All. I said.
All the best.
skepticism is good, but when it is healthy
To collect in a couple of days on the knee of a demo in which there is more content than in the entire Starfield – what kind of geniuses you need to be?
The game exists – this is a fact … Only now it still exists only in the form of alpha and when it goes even to the Stage of Beta – the question to which the answer does not know, probably, even Chris Roberts himself
Citizen has not been collecting money for a long time long ago, so there is probably already ten times thought out so that the phrase “Your investments is your problems” is fair
"Bexes brought the studio Chris Roberts over $ 728 million"
Oh, these poor ITishniks … do not eat them every day in the rests, do not replace the old, ancient, antediluvian iPhone 15 with iPhone 16 and not buy Tesla … horror
What is your stereotypical idea of "ITSHNICS". There are guys who pave the nets, they work on the level. And those who can buy Tesla, writing code, believe me, work out their salary in full. There we need such a volume of knowledge and experience that not everyone dreams of.
Criticism is not obliged to like you
Kikstarter has long been successfully completed, the money is transferred. The last ten purchases are directly on the developers’ website, and if they stop making return, then it will be possible to shake only through the court. And players rarely go to sue.
There is nothing to pay for the game, there are no return investments and other things, purely basics threw so much. And then all they can, it is only to go into plus if the game is sold well. The minus can be left only if then the Donatov sags, but they will not dismiss and dissolve the studio, then yes, they can go into bankruptcy and debts on the salary and rent there all kinds.
Imagine how many years will be required for such a budget to pay off.
Many understood this all about 10 years ago. And now there are little to surprise with such news about SC. In general, the description project in its pure form repeats the path … Duke Nukem Forever. There, too, because of the brilliant leadership, everything rolled into production hell.
He cannot pay off or not, he already makes baker’s money and everything that will be needed is to give the keys to the to bad and the necessary skins
Personally, in the elite, I do not have the opportunity to shake in my trough, and not just loading into the cabin. Otherwise, in principle, I agree with you.
Several times tested this product during free periods.
And the first thing that catches your eye, and then flows with them, is optimization. 16 gigs of operations for her is not enough. FPS stably goes for a walk in outer space. And at the first attempt to leave the room, I completely refused to open the door. Fortunately for such bugs there is a button to make a Roskomnadzor. There is no official translation into Russian, but there are transfers from the community. Bots behave in the worst traditions of Cyberpan, stuck in incomprehensible poses. The interface is sewn in a local analogue of Pip battle. That on the one hand is immersive, but on the other, everything complicates. For example, to look at the card trite, you must first call the spiralprojector, select the “map” section select the right card from ITD. In general, the level of confusion on the one hand is impressive, on the other, annoying. For example, in the game you need to eat and drink. To do this, it is necessary to remove the helmet, which is logical, but you need to do this manually, and then it would be good not to forget to put it back. With drinks, it is even more fun, because you need to throw your head back with the mouse to yourself to drink. It’s especially difficult to navigate in the game at first, if you have topographic cretinism in the games, then in a compartment with a not -convenient and understandable card, it will make a simple trip to the hangar with an adventure at a good hour +there is something like a system of space tram, which you can leave, do not understand where. Interaction with merchants, purchase, sale, call of the ship ITD. occur through the terminals, there is nothing complicated. The control of the iron space horse +- the same as in the elite and similar games. Asked for permission to take up/landing, removed/released the chassis, hyper jumps, transition to combat mode, etc. Personally, it seemed to me even easier than in the elite. If you played in space/Avio Sima, then you will figure it out. But the missions … Here you need to smoke the guides, because you can stupidly do not reach the quest, you can fly and immediately lean, you can not understand, what to do and how to do it? There are missions on planets, stations, there are purely in space, combat research, ITD delivery. And it would seem now, look, study, try! But the chance to fly to the nearest “bonfire” at first is very large, which means that you will have to constantly repeat the race to the spaceport, with a repeated purchase of lost equipment and the return of the ship for insurance. Everything is much deeper here, but I didn’t figure it out so well. There is nothing special to say about the management of ground transport, the local gravitics tested, I did not like it, the dofiga inertia, shooting from the weapon is not the worst and the choice in the arsenal is quite large for such a game, but animation curves. And a couple of long words about the acquisition of the game. It spreads if anyone is not in the know. Through the purchase of ships. You are not buying an ISU, you buy a ship that gives access to the game, and the squadron 42 is not included in the transaction, it will be sold as a separate game (and it seems like the citizen will go in the kit, it’s scary to think about how it will affect the pricing of the well). Ships are from several tens to several hundred evergreen. Whatever the trough bucket of bolts can be taken approximately (did not check on the site) for +-30 of the Bachinsky. (although earlier, 5-8 years ago, if I don’t confuse anything, the price tag was 15-20 bucks). Depends on the set. These sets also include insurance by the boat. And what is not everywhere and always lifelong, that generally lead. Buy a horseradish for multiducids and then go broke for its insurance, but there the price tag will be more than for MTP. But the main killer of the feature of these boats is personally for me. This is not just sitting in the cabin, but the opportunity to walk around the ship, to make a bonneck with all sorts of things, especially since large ships require a full -fledged crew of several people. For example, you can play a full -fledged old track, while some crew members manage the bowl, others sit in the company’s cabin, communicate, eat, sleep, etc. And then fucking clingons come out of the warp! And everyone to take combat posts, red anxiety! Mr. Spock, charge torpedoes … But something I got carried away. Karoch I now described only a small part of the possibilities of the game. But at the moment they are either amusing or dramatic, or in development. It is difficult and for a long time. How many years and hundreds of millions they still need, xs. Personally, I would, if the game were not so demanding on iron, not so baguid, and with price tags two to three times lower (and without hemore with the purchase because Rush Kok Blok) would have rolled into the game, even in the current state, even without guarantees that it would be released at all. By emotions and pleasant pastime, she would have fought.
Bakers of these 700+ million are a reality, and the leadership there is already a cloth there and never planned to release any game (except at first, when gathering 2 million).
It would be strange to think that for them it will be some kind of failure-the closure of the studio and the project, because they would have hired a manager for a long time, who followed the deadlines and skillfully said that the “stop” and add this and this, but we remove it without remaking. They just like to highly high, do what they want, and most importantly without a result, then you can always say that "did not work, no luck".
And who can brush up for this? I have never seen a living defender Star Citizen on the Internet, at least 5 years)
P.S. But if there are one, it would be interesting to know how Citizen hooked a man so