Star Citizen Dev Is Forcing Employees To Work Seven Days A Week – Report

For a game that’s still technically in pre-release early access, Star Citizen has amassed a large following and its own annual convention, CitizenCon. But even though the full release isn’t on the horizon, Star Citizen’s developer, Cloud Imperium Games, is reportedly forcing its employees to work seven days a week through CitizenCon.

Insider Gaming shared excerpts from an apparent internal email at Cloud Imperium Games that in no uncertain terms tells its employees that they have to work every day leading up to CitizenCon, even through the two weekends beforehand. Work from home will only be an option on the Sunday before CitizenCon, although Cloud Imperium Games noted its preference for employees to come in that day as well.

The stated goals of this crunch time are to finish Star Citizen patch 3.24.2 and “the Squadron 42 demo showcase for Chapter 1.” The report also notes that employees were pre-approved for 12 hours of TOIL (time off in lieu) per week, but only if the workers are still employed by Cloud Imperium Games when Squadron 42 ships. If any employees leave ahead of time, they will not be able to take their accumulated TOIL.

CitizenCon will take place in Manchester, England on October 19-20. In a follow-up email to employees, Cloud City Games is said to have offered Monday, October 21 as a free day to take off. For now, there’s still no word about when Star Citizen will move on from early access and into a full release, but it’s been 12 years and counting.