Ahead of its Citizencon event on 19 October 2024, Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium has reportedly mandated a 7-day work week for its employees to meet the tight deadlines.
According to a report by Insider Gaming, an internal email was circulated to Cloud Imperium staff stating that the company needed to “double down over the next 18 days” to create “an amazing experience for our community”, and will be “mandating extra time for all those working on deliverables for [Citizencon].” These deliverables include finalising patch 3.24.2 for the game and having a Squadron 42 demo showcase.
According to the company mandate, all staff are required to meet the following conditions:
- Be in the office on Friday, 4 October, and Friday, 11 October (typically a work-at-home day)
- Be in the office on Saturday, 5 October, and Saturday, 12 October (for these days, the company will provide breakfast and lunch, with staff receiving company TOIL, time off in lieu, which can be stored and used for time off at a later date)
- Work on Sunday, 6 October and Sunday, 13 October (this can be a work-at-home day, but the company “encourages” people to be in the office. For these days and those in the office, the company will provide breakfast and lunch, with staff receiving company TOIL, which can be stored and used for time off at a later date)
It is to be noted that even though TOIL is provided as compensation for the overtime, the time off will only be granted upon the release of Star Citizens’ single-player component, Squadron 42. This means that if an employee leaves the company before that, their earned time off will be forfeited.
The issue here is that Squadron 42 has seen a tumultuous development journey since its announcement in 2012, splitting from the main game in 2016 and seeing multiple delays following after. With no firm release date for both the main game and Squadron 42, it’s up in the air if employees will ever see their earned time off come to fruition.
Star Citizen has infamously been in development for more than 10 years and has raised over US$726 million in crowdfunding. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess how the game will eventually turn out, whether it will deliver on its promise as an expansive space adventure, or be a massive flop and a complete waste of millions of fan-paid dollars.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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