Brian Chambers is the Co-Director of Development at CIG, the studio producing Star Citizen and Squadron42. He was this Saturday at the Be@con, and answered questions on stage about the Frankfurt studio and the progress of work on Squadron42.
Frankfurt studio upgrade
A new location has been found to accommodate the Frankfurt studio teams. The current building is 1000 square meters and accommodates 100 people. New premises have been found, and a 10-year lease has been signed. The new building is 2,800 square meters and will eventually accommodate 170 people. This is to welcome more developers into the studio, but also to improve their quality of life. This larger space will allow a more airy space and open places to allow employees to meet and reflect on the project in dedicated places.
Work within the studio, remote work and tree structure
Four CIG employees were on site. However, Brian Chambers says that on the train journey he met Thorsten Leimann for the first time in person. The latter has worked for the Frankfurt studio for more than a year, however the remote work has meant that they have never seen each other in person.
CIG has studios in various places in Europe and the United States, you have to manage to distribute the work correctly between the studios, especially since the teams can be separated (the audio team for example has members in Manchester and Frankfurt ). The working methodology acquired during the pandemic has enabled CIG to acquire optimal communication at a distance. Now, if they need staff in a studio, they post advertisements in various places, and have the possibility of working remotely with this person, even from one country to another, as long as this new employee has a CIG studio nearby. For example, if an animator is needed in Frankfurt, they have the option of hiring an animator in Manchester, who will work primarily with Frankfurt, but from the Manchester studio.
Squadron42
Previously, Brian Chambers and Erin Roberts shared development leadership for Star Citizen and Squadron42. Recently, they separated the two poles, and Brian Chambers became the director of development on Squadron42, while Erin Roberts focuses on Star Citizen.
Chris Roberts’ move to Manchester is not trivial. This is for the sole purpose of pushing the development of Squadron42 forward. His presence on site allows him to be at the heart of the project, in order to finalize the work as quickly as possible. The work on the game has been long, but the project is taking shape more and more, and the time has come for him to come and oversee the assembly and finalization of the project.
Brian Chambers obviously does not want to give a precise date for Squadron42, but he assures us that the work is progressing well, and that meetings are taking place every week to discuss the progress of the project. One of the most recent allowed teams to see a chunk of cutscenes end. The project managers were therefore able to see the composition of the work of the developers, artists, engineers and others take final form on screen, which was an emotional moment for all.
Priorities of work within CIG
The priorities are defined as follows:
- Assets shared between Squadron42 and Star Citizen
- Squadron42 Assets
- Star Citizen assets.
However, some teams have work that concerns the project more globally. For example the rendering team or the engine team, have their own set of priorities, their work indeed concerns the whole project, and it is not possible to define if what they develop concerns more Star Citizen or Squadron42.