All a bit complicated for me. Looks like they paid £0 tax in the UK as a company and Erin's package is worth $295k (£230k). Those were the two objective facts I could take from the filings.
I think I've seen this kind of landing assist interface somewhere before...
We need Kerrash on the case, he's a bean counter of some kind as i recall.
Latest roadmap update
so hurston seems to be almost ready..
why they don't upload it in the PTU at least ?
...hmm i fear something in there.
Interesting to see that they did not mention legal action being in the key risks at all. Surely the legal action is a massive risk?
An accountant said:EMPLOYEES
Going to start with something straight forward that is easy to interpret but always controversial. No layoffs. CIG dramatically increased their employee count yet again. These figures must include employees based in Germany and any other countries hidden around the world, but not the USA.
Reminder:
Period ended 31 Dec 2014 – Average 52 employees
Year ended 31 Dec 2015 – Averaged 132 employees
Year ended 31 Dec 2016 – Averaged 221 employees
Year ended 31 Dec 2017 – Averaged 318 employees
Total salaries rose and the average rate of £43k per employee (including employer’s National Insurance) is broadly in line with previous years. There is however a hilariously obvious and simple mistake in the notes of the accounts. You really don’t need to be a German auditor to spot this one and yet…
Here’s the origin of the very basic error in the accounts but I cannot explain how it was missed.
2016 FILING. NOTE THE 2015 AMOUNT
2017 FILING. NOTE THE 2016 AMOUNT
THE COUTTS LOAN
Since these accounts cover the year ended 31 Dec 2017 and the Coutts loan was taken out around the middle of 2017, the balance outstanding at the year end was £1.54m. There is a little note in the accounts about it which does not entirely make sense but it’s there.
BEYOND THE UK GROUP
One has to bear in the mind the very obvious and simple mistakes that are often littered in the CIG accounts but I think something fundamental has changed with the Byzantine Empire.
Up until December 2016 the US group acted as a sort of de facto parent company of the UK group. They held all the money and booked expenses, did some sort of expense recharge with the UK group. I always held reservations about how this was supposed to work with regard to actual accounting practices. I think during 2017 a number of things have happened…
Cloud Imperium Rights LTD incorporated on 29 Aug 2017
CIG UK LTD (The UK parent) increased its investment in unlisted companies from £440k to £462k a precise increase of £22,205. Presumably CIR LTD above
The UK group is no longer declaring its income to be related to RSI Corp (et al) in the USA
The note to the accounts which analyses turnover by geographical market, which I pointed out was clearly incorrect, has now changed
CONCLUSION
I would have to assume that the story now is that we are to believe that any cash given to CIG in pledges or subs etc is directly split. Any money given by persons in the USA is given directly to the US group of companies and used there. Any money given by the rest of the world is funneled to the UK/rest of the world group of companies.
It’s a subtle difference but it makes the UK group appear to have actual customers and turnover, rather than handouts from a related company in the USA. It would have been a basic requirement for the Coutts loan and make more sense from a tax credit angle. It gives a plausible reason for the creation of yet another company, though there is no suggestion that the new company is active yet.
It would also mean for example that the US corporate structure would no longer show numbers such as say, $34m income, $17m US expenses, $17m UK expenses and would instead show say $17m income, $17m expenses. Which might be of some interest if your US companies were fighting a lawsuit.
This whole thing is a bit of a tax dodge as well as some shenanigans. Previously one company (US), was booking all the income and receiving most of the cash. Then there is a myriad of “expenses recharged” and such. Which is not normal accountancy language or behavior. Normally it’s just revenue and expenditure. These companies were seemingly listing it as revenue and expenditure but simultaneously making notes about calling it recharged expenses.
This causes some issues when you are looking to take out a loan. If one of the companies at the bottom of the pyramid wants to take out a loan and they only have one customer and that customer is a related party, it raises many questions. Why doesn’t the parent company/related party at the top of the pyramid take out the loan?
Furthermore, there are hoops to jump through when receiving tax credits. In order to qualify for the UK video games tax credit, the company in receipt of those credits (Foundry 42 Ltd) is supposed to be solely in charge of production and distribution of the qualifying video game (Squadron 42? Star Citizen?). Obviously the UK government has repeatedly bent the rules and been flexible to allow it but there’s a certain level of questioning, that the old Roberts empire could not really even come close to fulfilling.
If anything can really be taken away from all of the accounts as a whole, it is the complete lack of consistency. Every year they seem to make up something new. We’ve had a different source of funds from different US companies (CIG Corp and RSI corp). We’ve had a different destination of funds from the US companies (CIG LTD and RSI LTD). We’ve had different methods for calculating how much funds should be transferred, including one year having to restate the previous financial statements to recalculate. Now we have a different method of funds from the US. Transfers covering recharged expenses vs presumably a revenue sharing agreement.
It's interesting that the paperwork refers to "Sales" and "Profit" when they will stand up in a court and swear they're not.
Anyone fancy a go at explaining that one?
OK, I've released it. Now what?
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Latest CIG tax document tends to indicate they are financially sustainable
It's like reading the transcript from a support group.
At least they acknowledge that their dear leader is not entirely infallible:
As a game developer with, let's say to be charitable, modest programming skill that hasn't been updated since the 90s, [he] tried and miserably failed to make the uber space game with a comprehensive living universe. His product overpromised and vastly underdelivered, as his ego outpaced his ability by a considerable degree. [His] game was forcibly released in a barely-alpha state by [the publisher] after they lost their last shred of patience with his shenanigans and shoved out what they had to try and recover at least a bit of the [money] they spent on him.
Oh, sorry, it turns out they weren't talking about Chris Roberts, my mistake. I should have known because it doesn't mention the failed Hollywood career.
If the people still flushing money into the SC toilet want to pat themselves on the back for enabling Roberts and co to pocket personal fortunes, all the while engaging in sage head-nodding over the reality of mediocre game developer salaries, and trying ever-so hard to convince themselves and each other that a game that's been in development for 6 years and still doesn't have reliable doors or ladders is fun and cutting-edge, at a time when games like Red Dead Redemption 2 exist, well, bless 'em.
It's also completely missing the Sci-Fi vibe,It looks and feels more like a Second Life in Space type of game than as a real Space Game, to be honest.
A video game doesn't need combatants "seeing each other visually". In popular science fiction space ship pilots use view screens to access their situation and make decisions based on the information displayed. Of course, view screens aren't the most futuristic thing, so head-mounted displays might be more fitting for such a setting. So you as a player see the same thing as the pilot: Something rendered by a computer providing you not with a fancy view of the outside, but with valuable information to solve your problem ("someone in weapons range wants to blow up your ship").I see no problem with them doing something different, as long as its fun.
However, there is a reason why biplanes in space tends to win over more realistic variants in terms of fun, because real space battles will be fought by computers at astronomical distances where the combatants can't even see each other visually.
So it's time to deviate from the over-used formula and come up with something new and interesting.