Star Citizen has now raised over $300 million

[midian182]

Why it matters: Since Star Citizen’s $2 million Kickstarter campaign in 2012, we’ve seen Russia annex Crimea, Donald Trump become President, and a global pandemic, but no finished game. That hasn’t stopped it from raising a lot of money, though: it’s just passed the $300 million mark.

It was only six months ago when we reported that the ambitious space sim had seen its crowdfunding efforts reach $250 million. A year earlier, it was $200 million.

Star Citizen had been bringing in around $4 million to $5 million per month from December up until April, but May saw a massive $11 million in donations. As noted by Altchar.com, this spike was likely caused by the release of the Drake Complete Pack 2950, a bundle that consisted of 14 ships and cost $4,600.

According to the game’s official website, there are now over 2.7 million “Star Citizens,” though we don’t know how many are active players and how many only signed up for free events like the one that took place at the end of May.

Despite the delays, changes, and no official release date, Star Citizen keeps on bringing in the money through the sale of virtual spaceships. Not everyone is happy about the situation, with some backers demanding their donations back and others launching lawsuits to get their donations refunded. There was also the damning report last year that looked into the sim’s troubled development.

But it appears there are plenty of Star Citizens happy with what the game currently offers. We’re currently in the middle of ‘Alien Week,’ a celebration of the date that humanity made contact with an alien race in the Star Citizen universe. Many are also eagerly anticipating Squadron 42, which stars the likes of Mark Hamill and Henry Cavill. For those who love Chris Roberts’ previous work, such as the Wing Commander series and Freelancer, but don’t have time for a huge multiplayer experience, this single-player mode could be a welcome alternative.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/85627-star-citizen-has-now-raised-over-300-million.html

 

[wiyosaya]

Yet another Star Citizen click bait article. Cue dissonant comments in 3, 2, 1...

 

[neeyik]

How is this even remotely 'click bait'? The article headline states precisely what has happened, the sub-heading points out exactly what the current situation is, and the content is directly about the headline topic.

 

[m4a4]

How is this even remotely 'click bait'? The article headline states precisely what has happened, the sub-heading points out exactly what the current situation is, and the content is directly about the headline topic.

Hmmm... I wonder if he means troll bait. Because you know any article about this attracts people parroting "it's a scam" without any logic behind it lol

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Hmmm... I wonder if he means troll bait. Because you know any article about this attracts people parroting "it's a scam" without any logic behind it lol

They also tend to attract people who will vemenetly defend Star Citizen despite it consuming hundreds of millions with little to show for it while ignoring the wealth that Roberts has recieved while working on this alpha of a game, the constant missed deadlines, and the heavy bloat and absurd level of monetization for a product weve barely seen.

 

[m4a4]

They also tend to attract people who will vemenetly defend Star Citizen despite it consuming hundreds of millions with little to show for it while ignoring the wealth that Roberts has recieved while working on this alpha of a game, the constant missed deadlines, and the heavy bloat and absurd level of monetization for a product weve barely seen.

And attract people who under/over exaggerate things, eh?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

And attract people who under/over exaggerate things, eh?

Pot calling the kettle black.

More importantly, Mr. Pot, what in there is exaggerated?

 

[m4a4]

Pot calling the kettle black.

More importantly, Mr. Pot, what in there is exaggerated?

LOL the irony. Why don't you actually play the game for once (during a free-play weekend) and figure that out on your own. You sound like every other "gamer" who just parrots what others commenters say in articles while not actually playing.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

LOL the irony. Why don't you actually play the game for once (during a free-play weekend) and figure that out on your own. You sound like every other "gamer" who just parrots what others commenters say in articles while not actually playing.

So you have nothing to back up your points and resort to moving the goal posts with "well you play it and tell me" and labels you believe mean anything; asking me to find evidence to support your arguments.

Lets break it down here so you can understand it:

1.) Chris Roberts has bought a million dollar house and multipel very expensive cars since starting Cloud Imperium. Given this is his only job, this means the luxuries he has enjoyed have come from his payments at Imperium, which is directly funded by this now 300 million+ in support. This is a very fishy use of fundraising capital, similar to many scams.

2.) Star Citizen has been delayed. Many times. The original kickstarter stated a november 2014 release date. Then it was 2015. Then 2016, then 2017, then 2018. It is now 2020. Star citizen has been in development for 7 years and is STILL not in a full release state. This is despite now revieving 600 times more money then they originally wanted. Again, suspicious.

3.) Squadron 42, which WASNT PART OF THE ORIGINAL GAME, still hasnt released, and work on that has also delayed the full release of the main game. The "free play" events still show off a game that is nowhere near completion, at best its in early beta state.

4.) Star citizen has had massive feature bloat. See point #3.

5.) The monetization outside of the game has included stakes in virtual "space", packs of ships that only exist as concept drawings, and other in game bonuses that are not currently implemented, with some of these packs reaching several thousand dollars. For a game that has recieved its original funding hundreds of times over. This level of monetization most people would say is "absurd" especially as the game ISNT FINISHED YET.

The way you snapped at me makes it clear to me you are a fan of the game. Now, I could say you are acting like a "gamer" yourself (again with the pot and kettle) automatically assuming I've never played the game or are a troll because I disagree with your opinion. However, I'd rather go with the benefit of the doubt and think you are a fan of the project who feels that criticism is wrong.

Spoiler, it isnt. Many feel star citizen is a scam due to the sheer amount of money involed and the little work shown for it. Starcitizen is now the single most expensive game ever made, eclipsing the development AND marketing budget of GTA V, a game that over 1000 people worked on at some point from a massive company. Cloud Imperium is much smaller, and burned through the first hundred million dollars with a crew of under 50 people. That is HIGHLY suspect.

It could be a scam, much more likely that it is a case of utterly incompeptent management from the top down. Many feel that asking for more money when you've already recieved this much is a scam, since its not evident any of that money is going into the production of the game itself. You can like the game, even love it thats absolutely fine, but the fact remains that many feel the current state of the game is attrocious given what has gone into it and the constant fundraising. Maybe instead of assuming everyone who disagrees with you on star citizen is a "gamer" who doesnt play games, consider that there may be many legitimate points against star citizen, cloudimperium, and roberts himself that reflect poorly on the game

 

[Malibutomi]

So you have nothing to back up your points and resort to moving the goal posts with "well you play it and tell me" and labels you believe mean anything.

Lets break it down here so you can understand it:

1.) Chris Roberts has bought a million dollar house and multipel very expensive cars since starting Cloud Imperium. Given this is his only job, this means the luxuries he has enjoyed have come from his payments at Imperium, which is directly funded by this now 300 million+ in support. This is a very fishy use of fundraising capital, similar to many scams.

2.) Star Citizen has been delayed. Many times. The original kickstarter stated a november 2014 release date. Then it was 2015. Then 2016, then 2017, then 2018. It is now 2020. Star citizen has been in development for 7 years and is STILL not in a full release state. This is despite now revieving 600 times more money then they originally wanted. Again, suspicious.

3.) Squadron 42, which WASNT PART OF THE ORIGINAL GAME, still hasnt released, and work on that has also delayed the full release of the main game. The "free play" events still show off a game that is nowhere near completion, at best its in early beta state.

4.) Star citizen has had massive feature bloat. See point #3.

5.) The monetization outside of the game has included stakes in virtual "space", packs of ships that only exist as concept drawings, and other in game bonuses that are not currently implemented, with some of these packs reaching several thousand dollars. For a game that has recieved its original funding hundreds of times over. This level of monetization most people would say is "absurd" especially as the game ISNT FINISHED YET.

The way you snapped at me makes it clear to me you are a fan of the game. Now, I could say you are acting like a "gamer" yourself (again with the pot and kettle) automatically assuming I've never played the game or are a troll because I disagree with your opinion. However, I'd rather go with the benefit of the doubt and think you are a fan of the project who feels that criticism is wrong.

Spoiler, it isnt. Many feel star citizen is a scam due to the sheer amount of money involed and the little work shown for it. Starcitizen is now the single most expensive game ever made, eclipsing the development AND marketing budget of GTA V, a game that over 1000 people worked on at some point from a massive company. Cloud Imperium is much smaller, and burned through the first hundred million dollars with a crew of under 50 people. That is HIGHLY suspect.

It could be a scam, much more likely that it is a case of utterly incompeptent management from the top down. Many feel that asking for more money when you've already recieved this much is a scam, since its not evident any of that money is going into the production of the game itself. You can like the game, even love it thats absolutely fine, but the fact remains that many feel the current state of the game is attrocious given what has gone into it and the constant fundraising. Maybe instead of assuming everyone who disagrees with you on star citizen is a "gamer" who doesnt play games, consider that there may be many legitimate points against star citizen, cloudimperium, and roberts himself that reflect poorly on the game

1. I suppose you have proof to back your claims like buying expensive house and expensive cars.
You also happen to know with proof how much money he had before the start of the project. That's why you're so sure about these claims.

2. Original date was 2014 for a very basic game..it got delayed twice after that they never said 2017-2018 etc those are just in your fantasy land

3. Squadron 42 was in the original kickstarter.

You are crying about how much money they burned...I wonder how much would GTAV cost if you count in the build up their studios too.

As others said you are exaggerating things and using half truths so it fits your agenda

 

[fps4ever]

SC defenders will always defend it to the bitter end. Which in reality seems like there may not be one if certain fantasy fans keep falling for it...It's just fun to watch at this point.

 

[m4a4]

So you have nothign to back up your points and resort to moving the goal posts with "well you play it and tell me" and labels you believe mean anything.

Lets break it down here so you can understand it:

1.) Chris Roberts has bought a million dollar house and multipel very expensive cars since starting Cloud Imperium. Given this is his only job, this means the luxuries he has enjoyed have come from his payments at Imperium, which is directly funded by this now 300 million+ in support.

2.) Star Citizen has been delayed. Many times. The original kickstarter stated a november 2014 release date. Then it was 2015. Then 2016, then 2017, then 2018. It is now 2020. Star citizen has been in development for 7 years and is STILL not in a full release state. This is despite now revieving 600 times more money then they originally wanted.

3.) Squadron 42, which WASNT PART OF THE ORIGINAL GAME, still hasnt released, and work on that has also delayed the full release of the main game. The "free play" events still show off a game that is nwohere near completion, at best its in early beta state.

4.) Star citizen has had massive feature bloat. See point #3.

5.) The monetization outside of the game has included states in virtual "space", packs of ships that only exist as concept drawings, and other in game bonuses that are not currently implemented, with some of these packs reaching several thousand dollars. For a game that has recieved its original funding hundreds of times over. This level of monetization most people would say is "absurd" especially as the game ISNT FINISHED YET.

Well, lets wade through this copypasta:
1) That's nice. A CEO of a company that employs hundreds of employees across many countries potentially has a high salary? Say it aint so! Shows mismanagement at worst. Not a scam.

2) Delayed ≠ scam. They're still pumping out content, so it means feature creep. And no one here is arguing against it. Non-point.

3) Squadron 42 is the SP part of the game which people want last I heard ( they don't care if you don't see the value). Why even try making this a point? (oh right, copy-paste)

4) Non-point, see #2.

5) So? People choose to waste their money on these things, regardless of game. They still get something, I also don't see value in it though.

The way you snapped at me makes it clear to me you are a fan of the game. Now, I could say you are acting like a "gamer" yourself (again with the pot and kettle) automatically assuming I've never played the game or are a troll because I disagree with your opinion. However, I'd rather go witht he benefit of the doubt and think you are a fan of the project who feels that criticism is wrong.

Spoiler, it isnt. Many feel star citizen is a scam due to the sheer amount of money involed and the little work shown for it. Starcitizen is now the single most expensive game ever made, eclipsing the development AND marketing budget of GTA V, a game that over 1000 people worked on at some point froma massive company. Cloud Imperium is much smaller, and burned through the first hundred million dollars with a crew of under 50 people. That is HIGHLY suspect.

Nope. Played it a while ago. Didn't see how it is anywhere close to having "little content" as you said. An obvious under-exaggeration from someone who hasn't played.
But, as I said, you haven't played the game and instead choose to grab internet arguments from people who also haven't played the game. Congrats on trying to do everything here but...

So, if you haven't noticed, I'm just being realistic here. Realistically, this is not a scam (at worst, mismanagement). Realistically, you haven't played the game to come up with your own proper viewpoint on it. And realistically, you are arguing for the sake of arguing based on a view that you yourself have taken from a bandwagon.

So, I don't care about the over/under exaggeration you're peddling. But I will come out and laugh at the people who can't critically think beyond "it's a scam", and laugh at the irony you've presented again. Just because I call out bandwagonners (like you) doesn't make me a fanboy lol

 

[Alfatawi Mendel]

As someone who has no skin in the game whatsoever...I really have to wonder if SC will ever be 'finished'. I mean - Why stop the money train?
Chris Roberts seems do be quite well off it, apparently.
If I had invested actual hard cash in this venture - I would be hopping mad.
I totally get it that people who already have invested their hard cash into the project, are defending it.
After all - no-one likes to admit that they have made a poor decision, and will defend that decision to the end...no matter what logic or sense says about it.
Maybe some people just have too much money.....

 

[Lionvibez]

Lol and it begins that post warning about comments is the fire starter.

 

[Jon Tseng]

LOL the irony. Why don't you actually play the game for once (during a free-play weekend) and figure that out on your own. You sound like every other "gamer" who just parrots what others commenters say in articles while not actually playing.

Heya

I backed it wayback and occasionally reinstall to have a look and see what has been built.

One thing I notice is there is very little content - like a few space stations and a star system or too (this could be of course because back end game mechanics are being built up before content is created - I'm not close to the dev timeline).

My Q is what is the current state of playable content/locations. In terms of space ports I can visit is it still Port Olisar + a couple of others or have they added more in the last year or two?

Tx

J

 

[Burty117]

Heya

I backed it wayback and occasionally reinstall to have a look and see what has been built.

One thing I notice is there is very little content - like a few space stations and a star system or too (this could be of course because back end game mechanics are being built up before content is created - I'm not close to the dev timeline).

My Q is what is the current state of playable content/locations. In terms of space ports I can visit is it still Port Olisar + a couple of others or have they added more in the last year or two?

They've added quite a lot in the last couple of years, I only backed the project back in 2018 and since then, they've added 3-4 city's. Lots of space stations, caves, mining mechanics, racing, lots of extra ships and missions and all sorts.

My main complaint is that they remove some of this from time to time. Racing for example is currently removed and cargo hauling is currently pointless thanks to the 30k errors.

3.10 is currently at the Evocati testing phase and so is a new game mode (Theatres of War) that's basically Battlefield but Star Citizen scale.

I hope Theatres of War comes out fairly polished, I could see myself playing it quite a bit.

 

[m4a4]

Heya

I backed it wayback and occasionally reinstall to have a look and see what has been built.

One thing I notice is there is very little content - like a few space stations and a star system or too (this could be of course because back end game mechanics are being built up before content is created - I'm not close to the dev timeline).

My Q is what is the current state of playable content/locations. In terms of space ports I can visit is it still Port Olisar + a couple of others or have they added more in the last year or two?

Tx

J

I haven't taken a look in a while. But you can look into what they're doing with their roadmaps.
MP:

Star Citizen Roadmap - RSI

The Roberts Space Industries Star Citizen and Squadron 42 roadmaps.

robertsspaceindustries.com

SP:

Star Citizen Roadmap - RSI

The Roberts Space Industries Star Citizen and Squadron 42 roadmaps.

robertsspaceindustries.com

However, their SP one looks like it just got made obsolete. But man, 28 chapters to their campaign...

 

[JoeBlobers]

So you have nothing to back up your points and resort to moving the goal posts with "well you play it and tell me" and labels you believe mean anything; asking me to find evidence to support your arguments.

Lets break it down here so you can understand it:

1.) Chris Roberts has bought a million dollar house and multipel very expensive cars since starting Cloud Imperium. Given this is his only job, this means the luxuries he has enjoyed have come from his payments at Imperium, which is directly funded by this now 300 million+ in support. This is a very fishy use of fundraising capital, similar to many scams.

2.) Star Citizen has been delayed. Many times. The original kickstarter stated a november 2014 release date. Then it was 2015. Then 2016, then 2017, then 2018. It is now 2020. Star citizen has been in development for 7 years and is STILL not in a full release state. This is despite now revieving 600 times more money then they originally wanted. Again, suspicious.

3.) Squadron 42, which WASNT PART OF THE ORIGINAL GAME, still hasnt released, and work on that has also delayed the full release of the main game. The "free play" events still show off a game that is nowhere near completion, at best its in early beta state.

4.) Star citizen has had massive feature bloat. See point #3.

5.) The monetization outside of the game has included stakes in virtual "space", packs of ships that only exist as concept drawings, and other in game bonuses that are not currently implemented, with some of these packs reaching several thousand dollars. For a game that has recieved its original funding hundreds of times over. This level of monetization most people would say is "absurd" especially as the game ISNT FINISHED YET.

The way you snapped at me makes it clear to me you are a fan of the game. Now, I could say you are acting like a "gamer" yourself (again with the pot and kettle) automatically assuming I've never played the game or are a troll because I disagree with your opinion. However, I'd rather go with the benefit of the doubt and think you are a fan of the project who feels that criticism is wrong.

Spoiler, it isnt. Many feel star citizen is a scam due to the sheer amount of money involed and the little work shown for it. Starcitizen is now the single most expensive game ever made, eclipsing the development AND marketing budget of GTA V, a game that over 1000 people worked on at some point from a massive company. Cloud Imperium is much smaller, and burned through the first hundred million dollars with a crew of under 50 people. That is HIGHLY suspect.

It could be a scam, much more likely that it is a case of utterly incompeptent management from the top down. Many feel that asking for more money when you've already recieved this much is a scam, since its not evident any of that money is going into the production of the game itself. You can like the game, even love it thats absolutely fine, but the fact remains that many feel the current state of the game is attrocious given what has gone into it and the constant fundraising. Maybe instead of assuming everyone who disagrees with you on star citizen is a "gamer" who doesnt play games, consider that there may be many legitimate points against star citizen, cloudimperium, and roberts himself that reflect poorly on the game

So let's take point by point :

1) CR do bought a 4 M$ house so what? he is a a guy which was financially healthy before this project and could have get a loan for 80% of the total. You have no clue about the details but it is evil because...

2) Scope change mid-2014 approved by backers pool and never ending pledges support which is the best way to say: YES. Year after year. It was said years ago that project will improve based on funds raised. You can't fail to release at a date when there is no date. The latest information from CIG was SQ42 beta in 2020. That was before Covid.

3) Your words in capital: "SQ42 WASNT PART OF THE ORIGINAL GAME".... Cool so know let's head to Star Citizen official Kickstarter page and read slowly with us:
quote "Squadron 42 - A Wing Commander style single player mode, playable OFFLINE if you want"

4) SC being in heavy development, do have bugs and crash. That's why it is called Alpha with disclaimer on pledges pages... not counting several free weeks per year available to ANYONE looking to test progress. No new stretch goals have been added since mid-2015 which was not part of SQ42+SC lore.

5) Monetization is based on the chosen model proposed during the original Kickstarter campaign: pledges for ships. All were concept ships at some point (call them jpeg if you like so). Current 3.9 Alpha do have more than +70 flyable ships... which came from concept to release. Better: New concept ships are flyable straight away.
You say "Many feel star citizen is a scam due to the sheer amount of money involved". We backers are used to see SOME individual pretend that "people", "all", "many" do think this is a scam.

+600 devs (internal and outsourced) working hard to deliver games with quarterly patch, a beta of half the project (SQ42) in few quarters and a starter package offering the all MMO for 45$. Not an extra cents needed as you can get flyable ships with in game credits.... plus multiple free weeks to none backers.
Worst scam ever. No need to be a genius to understand that word have definition for a reason and that scam, vaporware, ponzi don't apply even remotely to this company. So much a scam that well known private investors, Calders, do join the party for 46M$ back in 2018 with all financial and insight development in hands... They even exercise a one time option for 16M$ this year.

At the end, your so called "legitimate points" are mostly based on memes, misuse of words definition, facts and numbers.

 

[toooooot]

No, the game is not a scheme. No they can not be sued. In fact, the only people who say that are those who don't know what a space sim is, never had interest playing one, and never dreamed of something of huge scale astonishing visuals and player immersion.


I have to admit though: I spent an hour in hangar, then thirty more minutes in a ship trying to space travel to no avail. Then I erased the game. But hey, people play it, people love it. you think something great, but it still has to be made by a group of human beings who make mistakes, get stuck, make wrong decisions or don't know how to advance the project.
The game is alright.

 

[Reehahs]

I was glad that I could try SC during the Invictus week promotion for free. Pretty determined to not throw money on it until it is actually finished.

 

[fps4ever]

I was glad that I could try SC during the Invictus week promotion for free. Pretty determined to not throw money on it until it is actually finished.

Maybe your children will be able to play the finished game?

 

[wiyosaya]

How is this even remotely 'click bait'? The article headline states precisely what has happened, the sub-heading points out exactly what the current situation is, and the content is directly about the headline topic.

As I see it, the comments so far support my assessment. Click bait, troll bait, whatever you want to call it, this is what happens with every Star Citizen article on TS - even without someone like me throwing gasoline on the fire.

 

[DaveBG]

One of the funniest scams ever... how could people fall for it?

 

[Raytrace3D]

One of the funniest scams ever... how could people fall for it?

Clearly you've never played or put any money into the project. The game is massive and if you've ever played for more than a few hours you'd likely change your tune.

 

[Raytrace3D]

I'm very curious if Rob Thrubron has actually played the game or not. If so, how many hours before passing judgement?

As it stands, anyone I've ever invited to play Star Citizen ended up buying a package for themselves once they saw the game for what it is currently and realized for themselves how ambitious the project truly is. It's mind blowing what they've already accomplished and as a software developer myself, I can appreciate the level of ground breaking technological hurtles they are overcoming to make it a reality.