Cloud Imperium Games Cash Shop Records $67.7 Million In Sales In Q2 2026

We are only at the halfway point of 2026 and I've already run out of superlatives to describe the revenue performance of Cloud Imperium Game's online cash shop. According to the CCU Game dashboard, in June the company sold $11.8 million in goods, mostly in the form or virtual space ships, an increase of 29.1% over the total in June 2025. 

The year-over-year comparison was even more impressive when looking at the total for the second quarter. The $67.7 million in cash shop revenue for the past three months was a 47.4% increase over that recorded in Q2 2025. For the first half of 2026, the company raked in $95.1 million. Not bad for a video game studio which has yet to commercially launch a game.

Cash shop sales up 52.9% over the average from 2022-2025

The $1024.3 million ($1.02 billion) displayed on the Roberts Space Industries funding page at the end of May was not a comprehensive accounting for all of CIG's revenue since the project's Kickstarter in October 2012. Overall, the company has recorded $1,179.4 million ($1.18 billion) in confirmed revenue (the funding page & the 2024 financial report).

• Sales/Pledges: $1024.3 million ($1.02 billion) (through 30 June 2026)
• Other cash shop revenue: $2.7 million (through 31 December 2024)
• Subscriptions: $46.8 million (through 31 December 2024)
• All other sources: $105.6 million (through 31 December 2024)

Q2 cash shop sales up 75.5% compared to the previous 3-year average

In addition, the company has received a total of $68.25 million in outside investment. According to the 2023 financial report, $4.8 million of the amount was returned to investors in 2020 and another $3.1 million in 2023-2024. Including the outside investment money, the total amount raised by CIG to create Squadron 42 and Star Citizen is $1,247.6 million ($1.25 billion), or $1.239.8 million ($1.24 billion) when excluding the returned funds. An additional $12.6 million in loans issued in March 2025 and due for repayment on 31 December 2027 are not included in the total.

New account creation still grew by 12.7%

The new user account generation may come as a surprise to those who followed Star Citizen in June. Despite all the complaints about server performance introduced with patch 4.8, new user account generation still increased by 12.7% year-over-year up to 38,060 accounts. Not only is new account creation not related to sales, apparently the statistic is not an indication of game stability either.

The 2024 Financial Report: CIG finally got around to posting the combined financial report for the company's worldwide business on 7 June. With that I was able to update some of the financial categories in the monthly summary of known revenue. In total, an additional $30.3 million in revenue is added to my running monthly tally. The total known revenue collected outside the cash shop comes out to $155.1 million from 2012 to 2024, the same amount the cash shop earned in 2025.

The 2024 financial report also showed spending hit a plateau in 2023-2024. CIG spent $163.1 million in 2023 and $160.9 million in 2024. If the company managed to maintain that spending, then CIG spends approximately $13.5 million per month. If CIG was able to keep spending increases at the level of inflation in the UK, we can expect spending in 2026 to wind up at the $14.5 million per month range.

Squadron 42 Release Announcement In October?

Over the weekend I heard about Cloud Imperium Games sending out invitations to a private event in Manchester on the weekend of 9-11 October. One of the major Star Citizen content creators, BoredGamer, released a video explaining the situation. Since he is going to the event, I'm going to consider that confirmation of the original Reddit post.

According to the Reddit post, a curated guest list of European, US, and Australian content creators, specialized gaming media, and a select handful of long-term original backers received invitations. Instead of showing off stage demos and heavily polished vertical slices, CIG plans to give attendees exclusive, hands on gameplay at the event. CIG also plans to make the core development team available for face-to-face interactions as well as present an unrestricted look at the current state of the single-player campaign.

I have to put in my two cents. I know that people on Reddit were excited because the invitation included "Launches 2026", but unless I hear about CIG obtaining a publisher in the People's Republic of China, I don't see the game launching this year. Especially since Grand Theft Auto VI is still on track to release on 19 November 2026 with pre-orders beginning on Thursday.

Instead, I see the event as a kickoff to marketing the game to people outside the Star Citizen community. My big prediction is the announcement that CIG will sell the game on Steam and that players can begin pre-ordering Squadron 42 at that time on both Steam and the traditional RSI website. Since I am assuming a Steam launch, CIG would need to follow Steam's policies. These policies include having a "Coming Soon" page up for a minimum of two weeks before buyers can press they buy button. Steam also requires a build review to ensure the game boots up properly and doesn't contain malicious files.

These Steam requirements explicitly details that Valve requires 3-5 business days to review the store page and a separate 5 business days to review the actual game build. I really don't see CIG setting things up ahead of time and stepping on their big announcement. CIG probably will also want to avoid the launch of GTA VI so I imagine a launch window of June or July 2027 would work well in also meeting all of Valve's requirements to list the game on Steam.

Pushing the release back until the summer of 2027 would also give CIG to set up relationships in the People's Republic. CIG is not a company like Fenris Creations. FC set up a physical presence in Shanghai in 2005 and began operating EVE Online in the country during the summer of 2006. Not only does CIG need a Chinese partner to sell the game in China, but an influential one like TenCent or NetEase is almost a must for a billion dollar game like Squadron 42. 

The timeline from obtaining a Chinese publisher to publishing the game could take 6-9 months in a best case scenario. If CIG uses the event in Manchester to secure a Chinese publisher with a feature-complete build, delaying the global launch of Squadron 42 to the summer of 2027 isn't just a move to avoid competing with GTA VI. Those 9-10 months is practically the minimum amount of time legally and operationally required to get a game approved by China's National Press and Publication Administration.

So will CIG release Squadron 42 at the special event in Manchester in October. I highly doubt it. But will the event act as the springboard for the effort to market Cloud Imperium's first game. All signs point to yes.

Cloud Imperium Games Posted A $14.3 Million Loss In 2024

Less than a week after announcing having reached $1 billion in community funding, Cloud Imperium Games posted its worldwide accounting report for the year 2024. For the year, the developer of the upcoming games Squadron 42 and Star Citizen recorded $146.6 million in corporate income while spending $160.9 million, including just under $8 million in capital expenses and investments. Overall, CIG recorded a $14.3 million EBITDA loss when including CAPEX costs.

Financial positions from 2012-2024

The 2024 financial accounting finally confirms some things that up until now were just speculation. Poor performance in the form of recording losses of $34.5 million and payments of $3.1 million to minority investors in 2023-2024 is now very likely to explain the leadership shakeup at Cloud Imperium at the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025. The cumulative net position of -$28.2 million is proof that digital ship and vehicle sales were not enough to fund the development of Squadron 42 and Star Citizen alone.

Perhaps more importantly is the information that CIG needs to keep approximately $40-$45 million cash on hand to ensure uninterrupted operation. At the end of 2024 the company was down to only $27.1 million on hand which equaled 2 months of spending in 2024. CIG began the process of restoring its financial position by selling $5 million in shares in January 2025 to Keith Calder's Indus Management Ltd. In March the company borrowed £10 million ($12.6 million) from an existing shareholder, who I believe was Indus Management. In addition to seeking investment from outside sources, the financial issues probably put pressure on the marketing department to sell more virtual goods.

Income from the 2024 financial accounting

Having had my say let's hear from Cloud Imperium's Chief Financial Officer Simon Elms about income.

Total income grew by 3% to $147M reflecting the ongoing loyalty and engagement of our community. Pledges and counter income fell slightly by 3% to $116M – reflecting a year of fewer headline releases for much of the year as we concentrated on the significant technical features needed for the future of Star Citizen – the results of which we only delivered in the final quarter of 2024. However, subscriptions rose by 14% to $7.3M and other income (incentives, partnerships and credits) increased by a very significant 34% to $23M. The latter reflects the growing scale and value of our international development operations and the corresponding incentive and partnership income they generate, bolstered further by the third-party income arising from Turbulent’s existing external clients.

The other income category proved critical in 2024, accounting for the entire growth in the company's income in 2024. Turbulent, purchased in 2023, still required $1.2 million in 2024, but more than made up for the cash outflow by bringing in revenue from non-game development sources. 

Turbulent no longer counts as a contractor

Other income grew strongly by $5.9M (35%) to $23.0M. This reflects the maturing of our international development operations, with UK development credits and related incentive income continuing to grow, as well as expanding partnership and hardware/software vendor income. This income line was further bolstered by a full year of Turbulent income including their local incentives and their existing web service business. This other income represents an increasingly important and diversified income stream, for the Group.

One significant fact I need to highlight is the actual reduction in spending by CIG in 2024. From 2020-2023 spending rose by over 100%, from $80.9 million to $163.1 million over the course of 3 years. Let's return to the CFO for an overview on the company's spending.

2024 was the year in which the cost rationalisation implicit in our 2023 strategic decisions began to crystallise. Total trading costs fell by $3.1M (2%) to $152.9M, a modest reduction in absolute terms but one that masks some significant and deliberate shifts in cost composition.

The dominant structural feature of the 2024 cost base is the sharp fall in contracted game development costs, which fell by $7.0M (56%) to $5.5M as the Turbulent team, fully integrated into the group from the second half of 2023, replaced what had previously been externally contracted development services. This was always the intended outcome of the Turbulent acquisition and represents a significant return on that investment.

Salary and overhead costs in the Rest of World segment continued to grow as Manchester consolidated its position as the hub of our development operations, but the rate of growth moderated compared to prior years. US costs across all categories either held flat or reduced, reflecting the ongoing transfer of development activity out of the United States and the consolidation of publishing activities out of Los Angeles and into Austin.

One of the surprising facts is that labor costs increased even while headcount decreased.

Labor costs continue to increase

Total employee headcount fell 5% in 2024, from 1085 down to 1031. Perhaps surprisingly, the number of developers fell by 4% down to 695. But the number of employees in the publishing ops, community events, and marketing departments rose by 24% up to 258. For those unfamiliar with gaming categories, publishing usually includes those tasked with keeping the servers physically running. I should also add that finding and keeping talented server and network techs is a lot more expensive that finding code monkeys. At least at the businesses I've worked at.

I do want to look at two paragraphs at the end of the report that might have some long time observers shaking their heads. Cloud Imperium has not had a great record in containing costs, instead choosing to acquire as much money as possible.

The improvement in the annual loss from ($20.2M) in 2023 to ($14.3M) in 2024 reflects the operational improvements achieved through cost rationalisation, partly offset by continued investment in our Rest of World capability. The pre-capex position improved more dramatically still, from ($13.1M) to ($6.3M), as capex remained broadly stable. The release of Star Citizen Alpha 4.0 in the fourth quarter of 2024 was a watershed moment for the project. The addition of the Pyro system and the initial phase of Server Meshing — technology first demonstrated at CitizenCon 2023 in Los Angeles — delivered on commitments made to our community and demonstrated the tangible return on the significant investment made over preceding years. As the Chairman noted in his 2024 letter, this is not merely the next iterative patch but a fundamental architectural advance: for the first time, the game runs across a mesh of servers covering the entire playable universe, with server boundaries invisible to players.

I have heard too many stories of broken promises and missed deadlines over the years. Even more recently I've seen the financial reserves slip to dangerous levels. I think in both 2025 and 2026 we've seen Cloud Imperium lean into the marketing department's ability to attract money from the player base. Then again, even with the spending restraint shown in 2024, Cloud Imperium needs to increase funding as I don't see the company able to actually reduce spending. If those in charge can just hold the line on spending perhaps the financial situation will stabilize.

I'll conclude with Mr. Elms' conclusion the the financial accounting posted on Monday.

Looking to 2025, we expect to maintain the cost discipline established in 2024 while continuing to invest in the capabilities and infrastructure needed to deliver Squadron 42 and advance Star Citizen toward 1.0. The investments made in 2023 and 2024 created the foundation for parallel progress on both titles, while also improving the player experience in Star Citizen. That progress has already contributed to stronger player growth and engagement, helping deliver our best top-line performance to date in 2025. Our next priority is to build on this momentum while working to balance the business through to the release of these two highly anticipated games.

How much of those final words are valid and how much is a fantasy I'll leave up to you.

Cloud Imperium Games Cash Shop Records $44.6 Million In Sales In May 2026

Cloud Imperium Games' online cash shop for Star Citizen recorded the incredible amount of $44.6 million in sales revenue in the month of May according to the CCU Game Dashboard.

Setting another all-time sales record

Last month's total was 54.6% greater than the total of $28.8 million recorded in May 2025. CIG's online cash shop also broke the all-time single month sales record of $31.9 million set in November 2025.  For the year so far, cash shop sales for the first five months of 2026 reached $83.3 million, a year-over-year increase of 33.8%.

The all-time sales record was shattered in May

The $1012.5 million ($1.01 billion) displayed on the Roberts Space Industries funding page at the end of May was not a comprehensive accounting for all of CIG's revenue since the project's Kickstarter in October 2012. Overall, the company has recorded $1,136.9 million ($1.14 billion) in confirmed revenue (the funding page & the 2023 financial report).

• Sales/Pledges: $1012.5 million ($1.01 billion) (through 31 May 2026)
• Other cash shop revenue: $2.3 million (through 31 December 2023)
• Subscriptions: $39.5 million (through 31 December 2023)
• All other sources: $82.6 million (through 31 December 2023)

In addition, the company has received a total of $68.25 million in outside investment. According to the 2023 financial report, $4.8 million of the amount was returned to investors in 2020 and another $1.9 million in 2023. Including the outside investment money, the total amount raised by CIG to create Squadron 42 and Star Citizen is $1,205.2 million ($1.21 billion), or $1.198.4 million ($1.20 billion) when excluding the returned funds. An additional $12.6 million in loans issued in March 2025 and due for repayment on 31 December 2027 are not included in the total.

The number of new accounts created declined YoY

May was another month which showed that new account creation in Star Citizen has no relation to the amount of sales recorded by CIG's online cash shop. While cash shop revenue increased year-over-year by 54.6%, new account creation YoY declined by 5.3%. The record sales was a result of the sale of a $5,000 concept ship to established whales (those who had purchased a minimum of $1000 in the past), not new players picking up the game for the first time.

Below are just some sales records I saw occur in May, mostly taken from the CCU Game Dashboard.

Most sales in a single hour: May 24, 2026, 1600-1700 UTC - $6.6 million.
Most sales in a single day: The top 3 days occurred last month.

• $9.58 million - 24 May
• $3.80 million - 25 May
• $3.56 million - 20 May

Most sales in a single month: $44.6 million
Most sales in a single sales event: DefenceCon 2026 - $34.9 million. The event beat out last year's IAE by $54,000.

Also, May's $44.6 million in sales exceeded the company's annual totals from 2012-2018.

What to watch for: Was the unleashing of the $5,000 Odin concept ship a sign that Squadron 42 will not release in 2026? We'll get a chance to tell this week with the Summer Game Fest on 5 June. Rumors have swirled around the event, so perhaps the public will finally receive an answer, one way or the other. The absence of news makes the delay of Squadron 42 until 2027 a more likely event.

Of course we are still waiting for CIG to publish the financial report for 2024 on its corporate web site. I wonder just how bad the news was for CIG to still not release the report a year-and-a-half later.

Finally, is there any progress on infrastructure improvements? I have to believe that the more people play Star Citizen, the higher the server costs. Unlike an established game like EVE Online where per player costs decrease the more people play, I believe CIG's server costs increase in a linear fashion the more people play. Those increased publishing costs eat away at other cost saving measures the company implemented.

Cloud Imperium Games Cash Shop Revenue Up 42.4% In April 2026

The powerhouse marketing team at Cloud Imperium Games started off the second quarter of 2026 strong, setting a new record for cash shop sales in the month of April. Revenue increased by 42.4% compared to April 2025, reaching nearly $11.3 million last month. For the year so far, cash shop sales for the first four months of 2026 reached $38.7 million, a year-over-year increase of 15.8%

The $967.8 million displayed on the Roberts Space Industries funding page at the end of March was not a comprehensive accounting for all of CIG's revenue since the project's Kickstarter in October 2012. Overall, the company has recorded $1,092.2 million ($1.09 billion) in confirmed revenue (the funding page & the 2023 financial report).

• Sales/Pledges: $967.8 million (through 30 April 2026)
• Other cash shop revenue: $2.3 million (through 31 December 2023)
• Subscriptions: $39.5 million (through 31 December 2023)
• All other sources: $82.6 million (through 31 December 2023)

In addition, the company has received a total of $68.25 million in outside investment. According to the 2023 financial report, $4.8 million of the amount was returned to investors in 2020 and another $1.9 million in 2023. Including the outside investment money, the total amount raised by CIG to create Squadron 42 and Star Citizen is $1.160.5 million ($1.16 billion), or $1.153.8 million ($1.15 billion) when excluding the returned funds. An additional $12.6 million in loans issued in March 2025 and due for repayment on 31 December 2027 are not included in the total.

With marketing activity advertising Squadron 42 picking up I'd wager a lot of people want to see the amount of accounts created each month grow. In April, the amount grew by 62.9% year-over-year up to 90,115. The big YoY increases should end in a couple of months but until then new account creation will run wild. Through the first four months of 2026 new account creation is up 96.7%

What to watch for in May: The cash shop will probably experience a new monthly sales record next month. The traditional May sale, Invictus, is being replaced by one sponsored by Drake. If the sale brings in over 10% in increased sales the record of $31,938,644 set in November 2025 will fall.

Also, will CIG announce a publishing partner for China? Without one, Squadron 42 cannot launch in the People's Republic.

Finally, will CIG publish its 2024 global financial report? The 2023 report was released on 2 May 2025. As of the time I finish this post CIG still has not published anything.

Cloud Imperium Games' Cash Shop Revenue Down 3.8% YoY In March 2026

The powerful money-making machine known as Cloud Imperium Games hit a slight bump in the road in March. The company's online cash shop saw year-over-year sales fall 3.8% down to $9.7 million in the final month of the first quarter of 2026. Still, for the quarter sales were up 7.5% over the same period in 2025 with revenue of $27.4 million. The figure was a record amount for the company for Q1 of any year.

The $956.6 million displayed on the Roberts Space Industries funding page at the end of March was not a comprehensive accounting for all of CIG's revenue since the project's Kickstarter in October 2012. Overall, the company has recorded $1,081.0 million ($1.08 billion) in confirmed revenue (the funding page & the 2023 financial report).

1. Sales/Pledges: $956.6 million (through 28 February 2026)
2. Other cash shop revenue: $2.3 million (through 31 December 2023)
3. Subscriptions: $39.5 million (through 31 December 2023)
4. All other sources: $82.6 million (through 31 December 2023)

In addition, the company has received a total of $68.25 million in outside investment. According to the 2023 financial report, $4.8 million of the amount was returned to investors in 2020 and another $1.9 million in 2023. Including the outside investment money, the total amount raised by CIG to create Squadron 42 and Star Citizen is $1.149.2 million ($1.15 billion), or $1.142.6 million ($1.14 billion) when excluding the returned funds. An additional $12.6 million in loans issued in March 2025 and due for repayment on 31 December 2027 are not included in the total.

For those keeping track of new user account creation, year-over-year the number increased 97.1%, from 25,946 in March 2025 to 51,129 in March 2026. For the first quarter of 2026, the YoY amount increased by 118.5%. I don't know enough to know if the majority of the accounts were legitimately new people drawn to Star Citizen or if CIG held a sale with major benefits that would lead existing players to create new accounts.

What to watch for: We finished the first 3 months of 2026 without CIG publishing its financial report for 2024. That report would give some indication as to how well the company did in 2025. In 2023 CIG spent $162 million, which is more than the $155 million the cash shop recorded last year. Newer data on company expenditures would help put 2025's record cash shop sales in better perspective. Knowing the burn rate would also help put 2026's record Q1 cash shop sales into perspective as well.

Another item to look for is news about the release of CIG's upcoming single-player game Squadron 42. If the game is going to have a simultaneous global launch, the company needs to announce a publisher for the People's Republic of China in the next few months. We also need to hear news about the game "going gold". That is, the code is in its final state for release.

Finally, we need to watch the cash shop revenue. If sales in the upcoming quarter match those of Q2 2025, the world will see the counter on the cash shop hit $1 billion near the end of June.

Cloud Imperium Games Sales Surge 21.8% In February 2026

For those wondering if the shutdown of Intrepid Studios and Ashes of Creation would negatively affect Cloud Imperium Games, never fear. The developer of the upcoming games Squadron 42 and Star Citizen recorded record cash shop revenue for the month of February of nearly $9.4 million. The monthly total is a year-over-year increase of 21.8% compared to last year's record total of $7.7 million. For the year, the Cloud Imperium cash shop has raked in $17.8 million, an increase of 14.9% over the first two months of 2025. The lifetime revenue for the CIG online cash shop since November 2012 to the end of February 2026 was $946.9 million.

The $946.9 million displayed on the Roberts Space Industries funding page at the end of January was not a comprehensive accounting for all of CIG's revenue since the project's Kickstarter in October 2012. Overall, the company has recorded $1,071.3 million ($1.07 billion) in confirmed revenue (the funding page & the 2023 financial report).

• Sales/Pledges: $946.9 million (through 28 February 2026)
• Other cash shop revenue: $2.3 million (through 31 December 2023)
• Subscriptions: $39.5 million (through 31 December 2023)
• All other sources: $82.6 million (through 31 December 2023)

In addition, the company has received a total of $68.25 million in outside investment. According to the 2023 financial report, $4.8 million of the amount was returned to investors in 2020 and another $1.9 million in 2023. Including the outside investment money, the total amount raised by CIG to create Squadron 42 and Star Citizen is $1.139.6 million ($1.14 billion), or $1.132.8 million ($1.13 billion) when excluding the returned funds. An additional $12.6 million in loans issued in March 2025 and due for repayment on 31 December 2027 are not included in the total.

  

New user accounts: While the number of new accounts generated does not have a relationship to money spent in the cash shop, many existing Star Citizen players find comfort in the statistic. Those players have a lot to celebrate as year-over-year new account creation in February rose 200.7% to 78,364. For the year, players have created 136,787 accounts, a 127.7% increase over the 60,062 created in the first two months of 2025.

What to watch for: We head into the month of March with CIG not publishing its financial report for 2024. That report would give some indication as to how well the company did in 2025. In 2023 CIG spent $162 million, which is more than the $155 million the cash shop recorded last year. Newer data on company expenditures would help put 2025's record cash shop sales in better perspective.

The other piece of news to look for is a release date for Squadron 42. I figure CIG will give 6 months advance notice on the release of the game. If a date is not published in March then assume the earliest the game will come out is in November or December.

Cloud Imperium January 2026 Sales Revenue Up 8.1% Year-Over-Year

Year 2 of the new leadership team's reign over Cloud Imperium Games began on a solid note, recording an 8.1% year-over-year increase in cash shop sales. Last month set another record for January with $8.4 million in sales according to the CCU Game Dashboard. While not explosive growth like January 2025's 44.2% YoY growth in cash shop revenue, the growth is in-line with my expectations of a 10% growth in sales in 2026 if sales of Squadron 42 are not included in the cash shop total.

As a note for 2026 I will continue the practice of adding the previous year and the 3-year average in the monthly sales chart. I like the three year average because I feel it gives a longer-term historical perspective. I have the feeling the metric will make CIG's marketing department look good in 2026. For January, sales were 20.6% over average sales in January for 2023-2025.

The $937.6 million displayed on the Roberts Space Industries funding page at the end of January was not a comprehensive accounting for all of CIG's revenue since the project's Kickstarter in October 2012. Overall, the company has recorded $1,061.9 million ($1.06 billion) in confirmed revenue (the funding page & the 2023 financial report).

• Sales/Pledges: $937.5 million (through 31 January 2026)
• Other cash shop revenue: $2.3 million (through 31 December 2023)
• Subscriptions: $39.5 million (through 31 December 2023)
• All other sources: $82.6 million (through 31 December 2023)

In addition, the company has received a total of $68.25 million in outside investment. According to the 2023 financial report, $4.8 million of the amount was returned to investors in 2020 and another $1.9 million in 2023. Including the outside investment money, the total amount raised by CIG to create Squadron 42 and Star Citizen is $1.130.1 million ($1.13 billion), or $1.123.4 million ($1.12 billion) when excluding the returned funds. An additional $12.6 million in loans issued in March 2025 and due for repayment on 31 December 2027 are not included in the total.

I realize that including data from 2023 in an article covering the first month of 2026 isn't great, but Cloud Imperium has a history of not providing financial data in a timely manner, even to governments. For example, CIG has failed to submit its financial accounts to UK Companies House by the 30 September deadline in 5 of the last 6 years. Stale data is just a fact of life when observing CIG.

New user accounts - For those interested in the number of new accounts created, January was the 8th month in a row the number of new accounts rose year-over-year. The streak began one month before the implementation of the new referral system in July 2025. 

In January new user account creation increased by 71.8%, to 58,423, compared to January 2025's 34,005 accounts. The major change in the monthly charts in 2026 is the removal of an attempt to project the number of accounts created in a month. Between the effectiveness of the new referral system and the expected release of Squadron 42 sometime in 2026 I couldn't come up with a way to model the result.

What to look for - I see three things observers should be on the lookout for that might affect the numbers.

1. Fallout from the shutdown of Ashes of Creation. Tomorrow Intrepid Studios shuts down operations, thereby killing the game, such as it was. Will any of the fallout from AoC's collapse splash onto Cloud Imperium Games and Star Citizen? Theoretically no, but if Squadron 42 does not launch this year, expect the cries of "Scam Citizen" to echo even louder than in the past.

2. Publication of 2024's financial report. Cloud Imperium is in a bit of a Catch-22 situation. Don't release the report in February and get accused of hiding bad news. Not a good look following the collapse of Intrepid Studios. But due to Cloud Imperium's practice of greatly delaying financial news, a release now would probably be bad as the company is expected to have lost millions of dollars in 2024.

3. The new patch release cycle. The constant release of new content last year helped retain interest and increased spending to new heights. Will the new bi-monthly (every other month) release schedule slow down interest? I believe February is the first month without a scheduled patch release in quite awhile. Will  year-over-year revenue decrease?

Cloud Imperium Games Records $155.1 Million In Cash Shop Sales For 2025

According to the player-run CCU Game funding dashboard, Cloud Imperium Games has earned $929.1 million in sales through its cash shop at Roberts Space Industries from October 2012 through the end of last year. For 2025, the company recorded $155.1 million, a 33% increase from 2024's total of $116.7 million.

The $929.1 million displayed on the Roberts Space Industries funding page at the end of December was not a comprehensive accounting for all of CIG's revenue since the project's Kickstarter in October 2012. Overall, the company has recorded $1.053 billion in confirmed revenue (the funding page & the 2023 financial report).

• Sales/Pledges: $929.1 million (through 31 December 2025)
• Other cash shop revenue: $2.3 million (through 31 December 2023)
• Subscriptions: $39.5 million (through 31 December 2023)
• All other sources: $82.6 million (through 31 December 2023)

In addition, the company has received a total of $68.25 million in outside investment. According to the 2023 financial report, $4.8 million of the amount was returned to investors in 2020 and another $1.9 million in 2023. Including the outside investment money, the total amount raised by CIG to create Squadron 42 and Star Citizen is $1.122 billion, or $1.115 billion when excluding the returned funds. An additional $12.6 million in loans issued in March 2025 and due for repayment on 31 December 2027 are not included in the total.

The streak is over - December marked the first time in 12 months cash shop sales did not experience increased year-over year (YoY) sales. CIG "only" brought in $14.7 million in sales in December, the second-highest total in the company's history. The highest was the $18.7 million in sales in December 2024, resulting in a YoY decline of 21.2%. The longest streak of YoY sales increases occurred for 13 months, from September 2021 through September 2022.

A major reason for the decrease was the calendar shifting one day of the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo (IAE), Star Citizen's biggest cash shop event, from December to November. The other reason is that a ship sale that occurred in the middle of December 2024 was not repeated in 2025. Instead, less popular (and less expensive) items were sold instead.

Record 4th quarter sales - Despite the lower YoY December sales, the 4th quarter of 2025 set a record with the largest turnover in the company's history. The $58.6 million in cash shop sales was $7.1 million greater than the previous record of $51.5 million set in Q4 2023.

Record sales events - A major driver of revenue in the fourth quarter was the IAE. In 2025 the event brought in $34.8 million over 14 days, an increase of $10.6 million over sales in 2024 and $10.3 million over 2023. May's Invictus event, traditionally CIG's second largest sales event, brought in $24.2 million in 2025, a $4.9 million increase over 2024. The year-over-year increase in sales during those two events accounted for slightly over 40% of the increased cash shop sales in 2025.

New account creation bounces back - After two years of declines, new user account creation increased by 46.6% in 2025, up to almost 710,000. 

December was typical of new user creation since the institution of a new recruitment program 6 months ago. The 84,288 new accounts created in December represented a 83.5% increase over the number created in December 2024.

A lot of players (and content creators) are looking at the increase in new account creation as a major surge in interest in Star Citizen. The total number in the fourth quarter fuels the argument. The 265,264

accounts created in the last three months of 2025 was a 91.9% increase over the same period in 2024.

What to watch for - CIG's 2025 growth in cash shop sales promises to put the company back into profitability after 2023's loss of $20 million and assumed losses in 2024. Hopefully the 2024 financial report appears on the Cloud Imperium website in the next week or two so we can see other important information such as subscription revenue, other types of revenue as well as overall spending. Cloud Imperium has a history of spending more that the company brings. We won't know all the information about 2025 until CIG releases its annual financial report in December 2026 or January 2027. The 2024 report is the first bit of information the public will receive on how the company truly performed financially in 2025.

My Predictions For 2026

Another year, another time to make a fool of myself by making predictions for the upcoming year. Personally I had a fairly good year but I don't place a lot of value on my fortune-telling skill. But I really do need to go back and review the predictions I made for 2025 and try to do a better job foretelling 2026.

Crowd Control Productions - Last year I predicted two things. First, that the company would meet Pearl Abyss' expectations of having at least ₩20 billion in revenue for each quarter of 2025. CCP has achieved that level of revenue for the last six quarters and with the launch of the Revenant expansion I don't see that changing.

The second prediction is more problematic. I predicted CCP would see a 10% growth in revenue, meaning either ₩90 billion or $64 million for the year. Through the first three quarters the totals were ₩65.5 billion/$46.4 million. Given the strength of the Catalyst expansion I still have an outside shot of getting this prediction correct but won't know until the next investors' call in February.

For 2026 I may go full fanboi on my predictions. CCP will continue to meet the ₩20 billion per quarter revenue guidance given to investors. I am also going to place a lot of faith in Vanguard and set my revenue prediction for the year at ₩99.0 billion/$70.0 million.

EVE Online - Don't worry, some of my predictions that involve both EVE and a sequel game in the IP will be listed with the other game. I'm going to give myself a half-a-point for calling the summer expansions a hodge-podge of ideas although I think Legion was heavily aimed at null sec. I was dead wrong about the winter expansion concentrating on The Deathless Circle. Instead players got a mining/industrial themed expansion. Players got armed industrial ships, not tech 2 Deathless Circle pirate ships.

In 2026 I am expecting the summer expansion to consist of a hodge-podge of ideas that won't fit nicely into the theme of the winter expansion. The summer expansion will launch in June with the introduction of a new pirate epic arc coming in July. I'm guessing something involving The Deathless Circle but Upwell counts as a pirate faction, right?

For the winter expansion, I think wormholers will receive a major update. CCP hasn't expanded the lore of the Sleepers in a long time. Considering the Drifters killed Empress Jamyl I back in 2015, wormholes and the lore is probably overdue for an update.

Now for a couple of predictions based on Jester's charts. First, the ending average concurrent users in 2026. Jester's graph is showing a 7-day moving average at the beginning of December of over 28,000 accounts logged in at one time. The 30-day moving average is moving upward and almost at 26,000 accounts. I am going to predict that at some point in 2026 the 7-day moving average of concurrent users will exceed 30,000 accounts and the 30-day moving average will end the year over 28,000 concurrent users.

Jester also has another chart displaying the average number of concurrent users logged in per year. Through November the number for 2025 was 22,635, or about 100 accounts less than 2024's average. I'm going to make the wild prediction that Jester's chart shows over 24,000 in 2026. I call the prediction wild as the amount would be the highest average amount of accounts logged in during a year since 2014's 27,490.

One last prediction. In 2025 the peak concurrent user mark for the year reached 41,322. In 2026 I predict the number will reach 42,500. I know, not much of an increase. But the increase would give 2026 the highest yearly PCU since the move to Alpha clones in January 2017.

EVE Vanguard - CCP Games does not have the greatest record with first person shooters. Last year I predicted a successful test of Vanguard in November or December. I'll take the cross-over Operation Nemesis event in September and October as being close enough to count. But I'll also take my prediction of the developers as shying away from null sec as a miss.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that Vanguard will indeed launch on Steam sometime in the third quarter of 2026. The delays for CCP's FPS games dating back to EVE Vegas 2018 are over.

EVE Frontier - I didn't really make a lot of predictions for Frontier in 2025. I did predict another round of venture capital funding but as far as I know that didn't happen. I'll have to count the next prediction as partially correct. CCP did announce how the developers have upgraded the Carbon engine to use Python 3.12 but EVE Online has not switched to the new version of the engine yet.

I will predict for Fanfest 2026 that CCP will present a video showing all the client differences between Online and Frontier. However, the video may not make it to the main stage of Harpa. I will also predict the crypto currency for Frontier will not appear for sale in 2026. If I'm wrong that means Pearl Abyss is in financial trouble and Crimson Desert flopped.

The mobile games - I am going to predict neither EVE Echoes or EVE Galaxy Conquest will shut down in 2026. That's about as far as I feel comfortable predicting.

Pearl Abyss - I managed to only make a prediction about the company returning to profitability in 2025. Once again, we'll need to wait until the February investors' call as the company only had made a net profit of ₩6.8 billion through the first 9 months of 2025. Given recent history the numbers could dip back into the red.

I will make one additional prediction about the South Korean game maker. Expect total revenue in 2026 to fall between ₩550 billion and ₩600 billion.

Black Desert Online - Looks like I was wrong about the revenue Black Desert would bring into Pearl Abyss' coffers in 2025. I predicted a 10% decline down to ₩215.0 billion. The IP, however, bounced back with ₩197.4 billion in revenue through the first three quarters of the year. The Black Desert IP may even see an increase in revenue if Pearl Abyss announces Q4 revenue exceeding ₩52.4 billion. Once again, we'll need to wait on the investors' call in February.

Crimson Desert - I finally got a prediction involving Pearl Abyss' upcoming single-player RPG mostly correct. I posted that I expected Pearl Abyss to announce in November the game would release in the first half of 2026. Pearl Abyss made the announcement in September.

My only prediction for the game is that between 2.5 million and 3 million copies of the game will sell in 2026.

Cloud Imperium Games - What a difference the leadership shakeup at Cloud Imperium had in 2025. Last year I made 4 predictions about CIG and got two totally wrong. First, I predicted a slight decline in year-over-year cash shop revenue down to $113 million. CIG is on pace for $155 million in revenue, an increase of over 30%. I was also wrong about sales during Invictus and IAE only totalling $46.8 million, with actual sales for the two biggest events on the calendar bringing in $59 million. The 15% reduction in new account creation I predicted for 2025 turned into a 45% increase instead. 

One I got partially correct was the prediction involving additional outside funding. I predicted Tencent would receive a 5-10% share of CIG in exchange for becoming the company's publisher in China. Instead, Keith Calder paid $5 million to increase his holding in CIG up to 22.4%.

Finally, I did get the closing of the Los Angeles area studio correct. Not much of a prediction, honestly, but CIG did try to hide the complete shutdown of the office so it counts.

Looking into the future I will make a prediction that will affect the rest of my predictions about CIG: Squadron 42 will launch in the fourth quarter of 2026. Given that, cash shop sales will increase 10% in 2026 up to $170 million. The figure will reach much higher if Squadron 42 sales are included in the cash shop counter.

As for new account creation, I am going to fudge the prediction and just say CIG will set a new company record, exceeding 2022's amount of over 871,000 accounts. One million new accounts would not surprise me.

I am going to predict a minor story will emerge in 2026: publication costs. Between the new server meshing technology introduced in 2025 and a surge in interest in Star Citizen, I think the publication line item will hit $90-$100 million in 2026. I also think we will see the number fall within $50-$60 million in the 2024 financial report which CIG has not published as I compose this post.

Star Citizen - I only made one correct prediction for 2025 out of three attempts. I was correct when stating dynamic server meshing would not appear last year. But I was incorrect in my prediction that the alpha 3.24 branch of the game would stay on the production servers until Q2. Also, my prediction that Nyx would not appear in the game in 2025 was incorrect. Admittedly CIG rushed the system into the game without all its planets, but officially the system was launched in 2025.

For 2026 I predict more of the same. Dynamic server meshing will not appear. Nyx, the system I thought CIG would introduce in 2026, will cause some consternation among players. The system will not be considered finished by the end of the year. Perhaps most importantly the capacity of single shards will not exceed 1000 players. That prediction is not necessarily a negative prediction as currently shards are set to handle up to 600 players.

Squadron 42 - I only made one prediction about SQ42 for 2025: Chris Roberts would announce Tencent as the publisher for the game at CitizenCon. Of course I was wrong. For 2026 I will make two predictions. First, the game will launch globally in Q4 2026. Secondly, globally does not mean in the Peoples Republic of China. SQ42 will not launch on the mainland in 2026. Look for Tencent to act as the publisher sometime in 2027.

I should predict the number of units sold in 2026. I believe CIG will announce between 2.5 and 3 million units sold. An impressive figure until one realized that half the figure will have been presales from before 2023 when Squadron 42 sales were disabled on the RSI website.

And finally, Final Fantasy XIV.

As much as I play Final Fantasy XIV I don't really dig into the game as much as I ever did EVE Online. Last year I predicted we would find out at Fanfest in November that Yoshi-P would announce players would return to the Eastern lands to visit the frigid waters of The Blindfrost. Well, none of that happened, with the next Fanfest set for Anaheim in April.

Now for my predictions. The next expansion will take place in the South Sea islands, the original home of the Lalafell. Which means Krile will either serve as the expansion's star or be the ongoing thread holding the multi-expansion story arc together, much as Alphinaud did in the Hydaelyn–Zodiark Saga.

I asked last week which mainline Final Fantasy game I should play. If my prediction is correct, the 8.0 expansion will heavily reference Final Fantasy X, specifically Spira. I guess I know which Final Fantasy game I'm playing next.

I am also going to go out on a limb and say Final Fantasy XIV will not launch its next expansion in 2026. Looking at the historical timings I just can't see a launch happening in December. Expansion launches have always occurred at least 3 months after the Japanese Fanfest, and the next one is on Halloween and All Saints Day. That would lead to a launch of the next expansion no sooner than January or February 2027.

And so concludes another round of predictions. One of these days I'll get more than half the predictions right.

Cloud Imperium Records $31.9 Million In Cash Shop Revenue In November 2025

In November 2025 Cloud Imperium Games smashed records for revenue generated by its online cash shop. According to the CCU Game dashboard cash shop sales reached a record $31.9 million, a year-over-year increase of 57.7% over the $20.3 million generated in November 2024. The total was also 33.6% greater than the three-year average of $23.9 million. With one month to go in 2025 the CIG online cash shop has generated $140.4 million.

The $914.5 million displayed on the Roberts Space Industries funding page at the end of October was not a comprehensive accounting for all of CIG's revenue since the project's Kickstarter in October 2012. Overall, the company has recorded $1.039 billion in confirmed revenue (the funding page & the 2023 financial report).

• Sales/Pledges: $914.5 million (through 30 November 2025)
• Other cash shop revenue: $2.3 million (through 31 December 2023)
• Subscriptions: $39.5 million (through 31 December 2023)
• All other sources: $82.6 million (through 31 December 2023)

In addition, the company has received a total of $68.25 million in outside investment. According to the 2023 financial report, $4.8 million of the amount was returned to investors in 2020 and another $1.9 million in 2023. Including the outside investment money, the total amount raised by CIG to create Squadron 42 and Star Citizen is $1.107 billion, or $1.1 billion when excluding the returned funds. An additional $12.6 million in loans issued in March 2025 and due for repayment on 31 December 2027 are not included in the total.

Setting records - The $31.9 million in cash shop sales topped the previous single month revenue mark set back in May. The two months, powered by the Invictus and Intergalactic Aerospace Expo, resulted in $60.8 million in sales, or 43.3% of the total so far in 2025.

During November CIG also set a single year high, surpassing the $117.6 million generated in 2023. With one month to go, cash shop sales will go well beyond the $140.4 million recorded in the first 11 months of 2025.

A third record concerning a single sales was surpassed in November. This year's IAE so far has generated sales of $28.5 million. The previous IAE high of $24.5 million was set in 2023. This year's Invictus event generated sales of $24.2 million. The current IAE event still has three days to run.

New accounts - In November CIG recorded the second highest amount of new accounts in a single month in the company's history. Last month's 127,366 new accounts only trailed the 175,556 new accounts created in May 2022. So far in 2025 the number of new accounts created is up 42.7% year-over-year to 625,526. The record occurred in 2022 with 871,922 accounts created.

What to watch for - CIG should publish its 2024 financial statement to the corporate site near the end of December. Also, with the final three days of the IAE falling in December plus the upcoming Luminalia event held every year in mid-December should ensure the year's cash shop total should reach $150 million.

Cloud Imperium Records $12 Million In Cash Shop Revenue In October 2025

Cloud Imperium Games sales began to return to Earth in October. According to the CCU Game dashboard, the CIG online cash shop recorded a few dollars shy of $12 million last month, a year-over-year increase of 29.3% over 2024's total of $9.3 million. The amount also was 13.1% higher than that three-year average sales of $10.6 million from 2022 to 2024. Through the first 10 months CIG has generated $108.5 million in sales, a 39.6% increase over the same period in 2024.

The $882.5 million displayed on the Roberts Space Industries funding page at the end of October was not a comprehensive accounting for all of CIG's revenue since the project's Kickstarter in October 2012. Overall, the company has recorded $1.007 billion in confirmed revenue (the funding page & the 2023 financial report).

• Sales/Pledges: $882.5 million (through 31 October 2025)
• Other cash shop revenue: $2.3 million (through 31 December 2023)
• Subscriptions: $39.5 million (through 31 December 2023)
• All other sources: $82.6 million (through 31 December 2023)

In addition, the company has received a total of $68.25 million in outside investment. According to the 2023 financial report, $4.8 million of the amount was returned to investors in 2020 and another $1.9 million in 2023. Including the outside investment money, the total amount raised by CIG to create Squadron 42 and Star Citizen is $1.075 billion, or $1.068 billion when excluding the returned funds. An additional $12.6 million in loans issued in March 2025 and due for repayment on 31 December 2027 are not included in the total.

New Accounts - October was the 13th anniversary of the Kickstarter campaign. The 53,640 new accounts created last night was a 71.9% increase over the 33,070 created in October 2024. For the year, CIG has issued 498,150 accounts, an increase of 32.1% over the first 10 months of 2024.

Over $1 Billion! - In October CIG went over $1 billion in revenue as counted from official Cloud Imperium sources. At this point the news is a little anti-climatic as the total does not include a lot of revenue generated between the end of 2023 and now. But I can now easily justify the total of $1 billion in revenue generated.

Not a record CitizenCon - CitizenCon this year was basically a 2+ hour experience designed to hype up the player base. The CCU Game dashboard keeps track of a 6-day period to determine cash shop sales associated with the event. While the $5.3 million in revenue generated exceeded 2024's by 24%, the total was still 3.8% less than the record of $5.6 million in 2023.

Upcoming milestones - In November CIG should experience three major milestones. First, cash shop sales should exceed $900 million for CIG's history sometime next month. CIG needs to reach $18.5 million in sales during a month featuring the Interglactic Aerospace Expo. Over the past three years the average sales in October have been $23.9 million.

Next up is a new account milestone. CIG ended October with 5,988,235 accounts. Unless the servers dies for a few weeks the account counter will reach 6 million sometime this month. The last time CIG failed to generate 12,000 new accounts was September 2019.

Finally, the company will surpass the previous high year for cash shop sales sometime in the next few weeks.  Sales only need to reach $9 million for the month to break 2023's record of $117.6 million.

What to watch for - Will cash shop revenue hit $150 million in 2025? Currently CIG is shy by $41.5 million. In the last two months of 2024 CIG experienced $39 million in sales. A good chance exists CIG hits the $150 million threshold, especially with CIG introducing the Nyx system in a patch right before the IAE begins.

CitizenCon Direct 2025 - Nyx Introduced In November 2025

I spent a couple of hours on Saturday watching CitizenCon Direct, the 2-hour condensed digital version of Cloud Imperium Games usual in-person annual convention. My main takeaway was that the Nyx system was coming this year, in November's patch 4.4 to be specific.

I didn't know much more about the system than what was said on stream so I went to the Galactapedia to find more.

Nyx is an unclaimed planetary system situated at the border of an unusually dense and dark stellar cloud. It consists of an F-type main sequence star orbited by three planets and an asteroid belt. Due to the cloud's interference with navigational equipment, travel through the system is difficult and hazardous. The system's main settlement, Levski, located on a moon-sized asteroid in the Glaciem ring, is considered a haven for Humans who wish to live beyond the reach of United Empire of Earth (UEE) law.

Levski has been in the game before so the developers did not have to start from scratch, although I believe the site needed a lot of retrofitting work to fit in with current game systems. Nyx looks like another PvP haven which may or may not sit well with the PvE crowd.

The presentation did go into what is coming up for the next year. Here is a summary.

• Launch timing: Nyx arrives next month with Alpha 4.4.
  
  
• Key locations: Levki landing zone returning and updated; Glacian Belt (large icy asteroid belt); Delmare asteroid, Lefki base and associated POIs.
  
  
• Narrative: continues 2025 storylines (Pyro Burn, Science Runner/regen crisis) and ties ASD/Intersect investigations into Nyx content.
  
  
• Activities: combined-arms operations, mining-focused content, permanent repeatable missions (including a multi-stage station mission involving Vandals), and player-driven discovery.
  
  
• Atmosphere and visuals: gas clouds bordering Vanduul space, “space snowflakes,” unique rock and environmental aesthetics.

Yes, the Vanduul were mentioned and even seen. A lot of Star Citizen commentators believed the Vanduul would remain hidden until the release of Squadron 42 but in retrospect the move makes sense. If Squadron 42 features a fight with the Vanduul, then those moving from the single player game to Star Citizen would expect to see the aliens in the Persistent Universe as well.

Speaking of business, CIG came out with three new ships to sell during the event.

• Anvil Paladin: Costing $350, the Paladin is a multi‑crew gunship for sustained ground/space support; heavy armor, remote turrets, crew-focused layout.
  
  
• Esperia Vandal Stinger: With a price of $315, the Stinger is an alien heavy fighter adapted for PU use; retains one bespoke size‑5 plasma weapon; most mounts are standardized for customization.
  
  
• Shiv (Gray market): The Shiv's designation of grey market speaks to the lore of who produces the ship. The cheapest of the new ships at $150, the hybrid Frankenstein ship built from parts; rustic Drake-like aesthetic, unique and powerful.

The CCU Game Dashboard covers six days of sales around CitizenCon events. Through the first 36 hours sales had reached over 60% of those last year and 50% of those in 2023's record year of nearly $5.6 million.

Sales through the first 36 hours of CitizenCon 2023, 2024, & 2025

With patch 4.3.2 coming up later in October and patch 4.4 with Nyx launching ahead of the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo next month, I think CIG is well on its way to $150 million in cash shop sales in 2025.

Cloud Imperium UK Submits Company Accounts For 2024 On Time

For the first time in six years, Cloud Imperium UK Ltd submitted its accounts to UK Companies House on or before the 30 September deadline. According to the stamp on the document, Cloud Imperium UK's accounts for 2024 were submitted on 30 September 2025, the last day to submit the accounts without obtaining an extension. The last time the accounts were filed on time was on 30 September 2019 with the submission of the 2018 company accounts.

Cloud Imperium UK is the portion of Cloud Imperium outside the United States which means the operations of the newly acquired Turbulent Media also falls under the British company. As such, profit and loss statements don't cover the entire business and observers will need to wait until Cloud Imperium submits its entire financial report on its corporate website. But considering the accounts were actually filed on time this year, the odds are that the financial news will be much better overall than in 2023.

I do have other items to highlight. First, CIG's operations outside the U.S. improved from a £8.4 million loss in 2023 to a £1.6 million profit in 2024. Cloud Imperium explained what changed in 2024.

The Group's acquisition of the remaining 75% equity of Turbulent Media on 1 July 2023 means that its results were included in the Group consolidation for six months during the year ended 31 December 2023, and for 12 months for the year ended 31 December 2024.

For the year ended 31 December 2024, Group revenue increased to £51.2m (2023: £46.7m), supported by the Alpha 4.0 release of Squadron 42 in Q4. Costs reduced to £64.8m (2023: £66.5m), demonstrating the internalization and rationalization of Turbulent Media's cost base for the entire year. The Group continues to progress with the development of Squadron 42, targeted for release in 2026, while publishing activities for Star Citizen outside the US remain within the UK group.

As an aside, I'm pretty sure the above paragraph meant to read "the Alpha 4.0 release of Star Citizen". While the accounts were delivered on time, the proofreading of the accounts may have been rushed.

Other operating income rose to £16.6m (2023: £1.8m), driven by an increased video games tax credit of £2.4m (2023: £1.0m) reflecting higher development activity in the UK and Canada, and a one-off recovery of £2.7m from a contractor relating to historic work at the Manchester studio. As a result, the Group delivered a profit of £l.6m (2023: £8.4m loss) and closed the year with net assets of £34.6m (2023: £33.3m). This result was influenced significantly by the one-off recovery and increased tax credit of £l.4m arising from a fully integrated Turbulent Media. Excluding these items, the Group would have reported an underlying loss of £1.1m, which remains consistent with our long-term strategy to bring Squadron 42 to commercial release and subsequently launch Star Citizen, committing costs to these goals based upon our longer term planning.

According to the accounts, Cloud Imperium UK received £11.4 million from the United Kingdom's Video Games Tax Relief provision and £2.2 million in Canada's Multi Media tax credit. 

The next point explains the necessity of the £10 million loan in the first quarter of the year. Cash in hand and in the bank for CIG's Rest of the World operations fell £8.5 million during 2024, from £13.5 million at the beginning of the year down to £5 million at the end. 

The accounts detail some of the effects of the company's restructuring due to the acquisition of Turbulent. In Cloud Imperium's own words:

Since Turbulent Media's full integration 18 months ago, the Group has realised synergies and strategically aligned resources, supporting cost savings while strengthening development and publishing capabilities. During 2024, the workforce was restructured to ensure readiness for upcoming releases. Average headcount rose slightly from 854 to 888, although much of that increase will reflect the full-year headcount in Turbulent Media compared to only six months in the prior year. Thus publishing, community and marketing roles to support launch readiness increased, whilst some rationalization occurred within development and support roles reduced by 5. Employee costs rose to £56.5m (2023: £53.9m) due to the slight increase in headcount and limited but necessary salary increases made throughout the year. Our development contracted services reduced by 49.3%, highlighting the benefits and improved efficiency realized through the Turbulent Media Inc restructuring. In contrast to this we spent 240% more on marketing and events to host Citizencon in Manchester, England, which showcased the work that has gone into the development of Star Citizen and a preview of Squadron 42. Previously we hosted in Los Angeles and thus that expense was not borne by the UK group.

Finally we get to the infamous "put option" for the Calders. The auditor from PriceWaterhouseCoopers still isn't happy about the situation, giving the accounts a "qualified opinion." Cloud Imperium provided the following explanation.

A contingent liability exists with respect to 1,877,400 (2023: 1,877,400) of the 11,745,920 (2023: 11,745,920) issued shares as at 31 December 2024. These shares have the right to put their shares back to the Company for repurchase at a minimum return premium of 6% per annum on the initial purchase price. For 1,599,900 (2023: 1,599,900) shares they also have a value formula based upon the three years' average revenue leading up to the start of the exercise period.

For 277,500 shares their put rights are exercisable on 1 January 2028 only, their earlier put exercise date having now passed. For 1,599,900 shares their first put rights are exercisable between 1 January 2026 and 30 September 2026 and their second between 1 January 2029 and 30 September 2029.

Based upon previous representations from the holders and given the company's financial position, budgets and forecasts the company currently assesses the probability of the holders exercising their put rights to be remote.

The terms seem different than what has appeared in last year's accounts. Last month Cloud Imperium updated UK Companies House with an updated shareholder list.

CIG shareholders, September 2025

The main differences at first glance involve pushing back the Calders, primarily Keith Calder, can exercise their put option. The put option could also be the reason the 2024 accounts were submitted on time. I don't know if timely disclosure of financial information is required or not. Perhaps the timing the accounts were submitted this year is just a coincidence.

The size of the liability increased from a potential £44.6 million up to £71.4 million. As noted above, Cloud Imperium UK only had £5 million cash on hand at the end of 2024. We will probably need to wait until the end of the year for how much cash the entire company is holding.

Consequently, consistent with prior years, the company has not recognised this put option as a financial liability measured at the net present value of the expected payments. If it were to do so using the minimum return calculation value on the investment for those shares it would generate a liability of £34.2m at December 2024 (2023: £30.4m) applying a discount rate of 10% (2023: 10%). This would rise to £71.4m (2023: £44.6m) based upon a multiple applied to an estimate of three prior years' revenue leading up to the exercise date. The increase from the prior year stems from an increased estimation of revenue during the calculation period, but there are many assumptions underpinning that calculation.

Cloud Imperium seems to wave away any issues.

The fact that the exercise is considered remote is the primary reason for not recognising the uncertain net present value of this potential contingent liability. Also given the nature of the put terms, as if exercised the put proceeds would be payable out of available cash in excess of that required to effectively operate the business and thus that liability would remain undischarged until such available cash became available.

I began the post rather optimistic, but the closer I looked the more gloomy I became. The vastly increased cash shop revenue in 2025 eases some concerns but the returns for what CIG calls the Rest of the World contains some land mines. Hopefully the end of year financial report will bring some clarity.