Star Citizen’s backers are up in arms with news that Alex Mayberry has left Cloud Imperium Games.
So we joked about #starcitizen never coming out. With the departure of sr. Mgmt, it turns out the best jokes are rooted in truth. Welp.
— Anders Bot (@TheAndersBot) July 5, 2015
There was no official announcement from Cloud Imperium Games, but fans discovered that Mayberry had updated his LinkedIn account to indicate that he was no longer in the company. It also indicates that he left the project fairly recently
Alex was hired directly from Blizzard to be the game’s executive producer. With the incremental rise in budget and scope, many fans expected Alex to keep the project in check. Unfortunately, some have taken this as a sign of troubled development.
Alex’s departure actually follows a string of departures from the company, the most notable of which was Star Citizen’s senior producer, Travis Day. Other notable departures include community manager and Travis’ wife Chelsea Day, and conceptual artist David Hobbins.
Between Alex and Travis were essentially two of the men at the top of making Star Citizen, second only to Chris Roberts. While Travis was managing work on individual modules, such as FPS, Alex oversaw all product development, and managed work across all studios, including contractuals. This meant he kept tabs on developers across Santa Monica, Austin, Manchester and Montreal, and the logistics required to coordinate between them.
While many fans are worried, some point out a simple and palatable possibility: the bulk of work may have been done, and development may be ramping down as planned.
What do you think is the current state of Star Citizen and Cloud Imperium Games? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
