Cloud Imperium Group Acquires Turbulent
Star Citizen Creators Bring Long-term Partners Fully on Board, Expanding Global Development Reach
LOS ANGELES and MONTREAL – July 13, 2023 – Cloud Imperium Group (CIG) today announced that it has fully acquired Turbulent, a leading Montreal-based studio, after successfully working together for nearly 11 years. The two companies have collaborated since 2012 on the ongoing evolution of Star Citizen, the iconic massively multiplayer AAA video game currently in development, with the world-record in crowdfunding, with more than $580 million raised since October 2012.
Today’s announcement completes a long-term and fruitful joining of the companies, with CIG announcing in 2020 that it had acquired a 25% shareholder stake in Turbulent. The addition of the studio reflects CIG’s strong presence in the bustling games community in Canada, with offices in Montreal and Toronto. CIG also has global studios in Los Angeles, Austin, Frankfurt, and Manchester, and now has over 1,100 employees around the world working on its ambitious projects.
“We enthusiastically welcome Turbulent to our family of studios, as an integral part of our Star Citizen development,” said CEO and founder of CIG, Chris Roberts. “Fundamentally, we recognize the shared cultural values and passions between our two companies, which have helped create a natural synergy and development pipeline for our joint projects over the past decade.”
Turbulent’s existing projects will continue as planned and its team of 189 employees will remain in place. The studio’s management team of Benoit Beauséjour (CTO), Marc Beaudet (CEO), Claire Buffet (VP Strategy & Creation), and Guillaume Voghel (Development Director) in Montreal will continue to run the studio. In addition, Beausejour and Beaudet will become CIG shareholders and join the CIG executive group as Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President, Studios Operations, respectively.
“After more than a decade of shared success, it was only natural that the next step be to join forces,” said Benoit Beauséjour, co-founder of Turbulent. “The Montreal and Quebec gaming and tech industry benefit from this transaction, which serves to reaffirm the depth of talent to be found here. And we will benefit from the expertise of a huge global network of CIG talent while our studio team will now be able to work on projects that are international in scope.”
“Benoit and Marc have been great partners since the very first days of our crowdfunding campaign and have been an integral part of all our successes these past 12 years, from supporting our crowdfunding campaign, to developing our e-commerce platform, to building our marketing and platform infrastructure, and now to actively contributing to the development of our games,” further said Roberts of CIG. “As we approach some of our biggest milestones to date, we’ve never felt better equipped to realize the unprecedented ambition of Star Citizen and Squadron 42. We are on a unique journey and the Turbulent team have been with us every step of the way, sharing our relentless passion for making the best game universe ever. We could not be happier to welcome them to our CIG family of studios!“
About Star Citizen Star Citizen combines classic space sim and FPS gameplay with boundary-pushing visuals in a massively multiplayer setting of unprecedented fidelity. Live how you want to live: shift paths from cargo hauler to outlaw, explorer, or any other role whenever you want. Explore multiple planets and moons, including vast cities and underground caverns, all created with a unique combination of procedural planet technology and complementary hand-crafted design.
For further information, including how to download and play Star Citizen, visit the official website. Enlist today and join this ever-expanding universe by visiting the game’s Welcome Hub and Guide System for tips on how to play. Keep up to date with Star Citizen development via the game’s Progress Tracker and Roadmap. Millions of players from around the world have already joined to help CIG build the most-ambitious game ever made. For continued updates, follow Star Citizen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, Twitter, and YouTube.
About Cloud Imperium Group Cloud Imperium Group is the parent company of Cloud Imperium Games, a new kind of independent studio dedicated to delivering AAA games outside the established publisher system. CIG was founded in 2012 by renowned visionary game developer Chris Roberts (Wing Commander series, Freelancer, Privateer), Sandi Gardiner, and international media lawyer and producer Ortwin Freyermuth (Carlito’s Way, Shattered, Das Boot - Director’s Cut), with industry veteran and studio director Erin Roberts (Lego videogame series, Starlancer, Privateer) joining the team in 2013. ClG is creating Star Citizen, a record-shattering, largely crowdfunded space sim, and Squadron 42, a Hollywood-caliber, story-driven single-player game set in the same universe. CIG operates in “open development” – sharing progress and updates in near real time. This paradigm-shifting development process (game development usually occurs behind closed doors) gives the community an unprecedented look at Star Citizen and Squadron 42’s development and allows direct feedback and interaction between players and developers, thereby ensuring that the games being developed are what players want to play.
About Turbulent Turbulent helps ambitious companies unlock the potential of their audience. Through an approach that is fun and transparent, they co-create improbable impact. Immersing themselves in the business of their client they deliver strategic guidance and craft custom technology that increases revenue, improves processes and enriches user experience. Founded in 2002, Turbulent designs video games and innovative digital platforms. Attesting to its outstanding team and achievements, the company has won hundreds of national and international awards: Webby, FWA, Communicators, W3, Octas, Numix, Canadian Screen Awards, to name a few. Annual revenues are on the rise, having soared from $6 million in 2019 to $25 million in 2023.
Media Relations Jeane Wong (for Cloud Imperium Games) 510-893-3271 / jeane@oneprstudio.com
Julie Gagnon Communications (for Turbulent) 514-713-4381 / julie@juliegagnon.ca