Star Citizen has raised $600 million and isn't slowing down after 10 years

[Daniel Sims]

WTF?! As Microsoft and Bethesda prepare to release Starfield, another ambitious space-themed game crosses a significant milestone. Star Citizen has been under development since long before Starfield entered production, yet it still lacks a release date. Despite its unending development cycle, the game's funding and updates appear to be accelerating.

Star Citizen's crowdfunding budget recently reached $600 million after a decade-long development cycle with no release window forthcoming. Of that sum, developer Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) raised $100 million since last September, indicating another extremely successful year.

The famously ambitious multiplayer space simulation game, which seeks to combine complex piloting and first-person shooter combat within a massive seamless universe, began its funding campaign in 2012. Despite missing multiple release windows, the cash inflow exploded in 2020, according to Player Auctions, and has maintained its new pace since.

May and November are usually Star Citizen's most successful months each year. May 2023 brought in $20 million alone, coinciding with CIG's huge free-to-play event. Much of the game's funding comes from selling virtual ships for hundreds of dollars, but the trial allowed users to test all of them for free.

Image credit: Player Auctions. Click to Enlarge

Furthermore, the Star Citizen alpha has received multiple significant updates this year. The March 2023 patch was the largest ever, enabling the game to track dynamic objects across all servers permanently. The update – version 3.18 – also added a new graphics renderer, new gameplay activities, and new locations.

Another patch with similar content additions landed in May. The update overhauled the tutorial, so now might be a good time for anyone curious to investigate the alpha. The developers have another update slated for Q3.

Although CIG pared back what's publicly visible on its development roadmap, prospective backers can still receive a detailed look at Star Citizen's progress. Additionally, the company provides a thorough guide to reading the progress chart, likely to help backers manage expectations as the frustratingly long production period continues unabated.

Star Citizen's single-player companion, Squadron 42, is still being developed. In 2018, CIG released plenty of footage from the story mode containing cut scenes with big-name Hollywood actors and a technologically impressive gameplay reel, but little else has emerged. Last year, the company said Squadron 42 was one or two years away, but the deadline for that comment runs out in January 2024.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/99944-star-citizen-has-raised-600-million-isnt-slowing.html

 

[m4a4]

Well, if anyone is annoyed that you maybe can't explore an entire planet in Starfield end to end, maybe look into this game

 

[i like foxes]

Weird . Sony makes AAA games for just 200-250 mlns .

in regard to games like Starfield . There re a lot - 4 Mass Effect games, a bunch of Star Wars games and etc. . In Jedi Fallen Order I am stuck in an ice rink and cannot continue . Hate this ice rink . I love this game .

 

[lripplinger]

I didn't even know "Star Citizen" was still a thing, until reading this!

 

[FaTaL]

Played it. Still unpolished piece of crap. the controls absolutely suck. it'll never become a mainstream game... its for the ultra space sim geeks only.

the only cool thing about it is you can fly in out of atmosphere from planets, seamlessly,theres no loading screens

 

[brucek]

Other than marketing/labels, what's the difference between Star Citizen and any other live service game? It's had servers online for years, some players who like it and keep spending money on it, some working features, and many future desired features. Not sure how different that is from any other game, except that what every other developer calls "potential ideas for future expansions" Star Citizen calls "features for 1.0 if we're ever able to release it".

Still haven't played myself - waiting for that 1.0 ;-)

 

[maxxcool7421]

Perpetual fund raising == free money .. this is a fancy scam with tech demos

 

[guillejp]

...nor is it speeding up development.

 

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Ten years from now, after Valve will have released Half-Life 3, Half-Life 3 Episode 1, Half-Life 3 Episode 2, Half-Life 3 Episode 3, and Half-Life 3 Episode 4 Ultimate Edition, we will still be here waiting for a new Star Citizen alpha build.

I can bet my hairy a** on it. And I will be enjoying my usual 500 hours with Elden Ring 3 by then :-D

 

[torchyear]

It’s not my place to judge the ethics of this development model - if people are happy to pay their money to enjoy this platform, then so be it - but I wonder how much of this project is dependent on Chris Roberts alone for driving it forward. Given the preceding timeframe, this alpha development could go for another 10-20 years. Players have had new careers, families, and life priorities since the initial kickstarter. Would it still hold together if Roberts had to take leave for whatever reason? Or would it decay into an orphaned mess, Portalarium-style?

 

[Burty117]

To be honest, CIG have gone pretty quiet this year, They even did a "Part 1" inside Star Citizen episode 6 months ago for server meshing, then never released a Part 2.

I really hope they have some good stuff to show off at Citizen Con. Even if it's not Star Citizen but Squadron 42, It's been soo many years now since they did a video update of Squadron 42, they do the email dumps but they aren't really an update on the game, more technical achievements and milestones that have been hit.

I reckon:
1) Initial Server Static Meshing will get introduced with the Pyro system at the end of the year, then it'll be delayed until early next year.
2) we'll get a Squadron 42 update, it's now entering a Beta phase and we might see a release next year.

Just my guesses, they've been quiet this year so hopefully that means these big announcements are coming at Citizen Con.

 

[Eldritch]

@Techspot @Daniel There are typos in this article. You have spelled name of the game wrong. It's called Scam Citizen.

 

[DSirius]

For many years, and even nowadays, Star Citizen had and has a huge issue, and this is that is seen by many of its players and especially former players as a scam. I mean there are too many red flags and evidences which point out in this direction. SC started kickstarter campaign with a roadmap and promised a delivery date. Which they broke numerous time. They even had to refund initial kick-starters who funded the game. When SC refused to refund initial backstarters who demanded, they were sued and lost in court. So what SD devs did after? They weaselly changed their EULA and postponed indefinitely the release date, and started a massive PR campaign instead to focus on delivering a version 1 of the game.
So anyone other than initial backstarters, who try to sue now SC will not get refunded.
But SC was also sued by Crytek, which is the game engine Sc used, now they are using Amazon Lumberjack, a new version based on Crytek engine. They settled, translation, SC devs paid Crytek an unspecified amount of money.

Every Star Citizen Controversy So Far

As Star Citizen crosses the $350 million fundraising mark, we look back on the project's various controversies over the years.

www.denofgeek.com

I bought the game and some ships and gear, which btw ended up quite expensive, and played it occasionally. Flying experience in itself is great, but beyond this the game did not managed to keep me interested enough to replay it as other space games did.
Thus, from my point of view, SC is an over-hyped, overrated game, which do not offer a gameplay experience which match the price which they are asking for it.
Beyond this, the game is quite good on some parts, excellent on few, and awful on others, clearly an unfinished product (encountered many bugs, like exploding for no reason, stucking in walls etc) with a very questionable business model for gamers-buyers, and very profitable for devs.
SC reached for me the smallest distance between the line to a scam and a game which will see the light beyond alpha, beta to the SC 1.0 finished product.

 

[DSirius]

@Techspot @Daniel There are typos in this article. You have spelled name of the game wrong. It's called Scam Citizen.

Dude, best joke of the day, thanks for it.

 

[Bobbydpue]

@Techspot @Daniel There are typos in this article. You have spelled name of the game wrong. It's called Scam Citizen.

It's an actual game, actually being developed, how is it a scam?

 

[Bobbydpue]

For many years and even nowadays Star Citizen had and has a huge issue, and this is that is seen by many of its players and especially former players as a scam. I mean there are too many red flags and evidences which point out in this direction. SC started kickstarter campaign with a roadmap and promised a delivery date. Which they broke numerous time. They even had to refund initial kick-starters who funded the game. When SC refused to refund those who demanded, they were sued and lost in court. So what SD devs did after? They weaselly changed their EULA and postponed indefinitely the release date, and started a massive PR campaign instead to focus on delivering a version 1 of the game.
I bought the game and some ships and gear, which btw ended up quite expensive, and played it occasionally. ...Thus, from my point of view, SC is an over-hyped, overrated game, which do not offer a gameplay experience which match the price which they are asking for it.

What exactly is the evidence to support Star Citizen being a scam over being another crowdfunding project that took longer than expected to complete? Star Citizen has a game people can play and a game they've clearly been working on. How is changing their EULA, which doesn't effect those who didn't agree with it, "weaselly"? It's not as if there was a loophole they took advantage of. EULA's can be updated and people still have to agree to them.

Did they take all the money purposefully for their financial gain or did they take the money and spend it on making a game? Seems like they spent the money on making a game. Anyone who's done any crowdfunding knows you aren't buying a product or a service. Crowdfunding is donating money to a project hoping to get something out of it. If people think they are being scammed, they should actually read the agreements they agreed to when crowdfunding a project.

You knew how much stuff cost before you bought it, but you bought it anyway. After I backed two or three crowdfunding projects that failed, I stopped supporting companies that have never brought a product to market and/or anything that's well beyond anything that's been brought to market before. I actually read the agreements and knew the risks so when the projects failed, I didn't blame the company, I blamed myself. If you bought digital items for Star Citizen outside of the crowdfunding campaign and after they already missed their timeline that's on you.

 

[Puiu]

Join now for the low low price of 10000$ to get acces to the beta in 2033. (we promise it will come out in 2033!)

 

[Burty117]

Did they take all the money purposefully for their financial gain or did they take the money and spend it on making a game?

This, they have over a 1100 staff now I think at last count, They have multiple studios spanning across multiple countries. They've clearly spent the money on making the game.

Scams don't hire people, let alone create over a thousand jobs across multiple countries and Scams don't produce anything. Star Citizen you can literally play the Alpha right now, they do regular video updates on YouTube, they email out updates of Squadron 42.

Maybe people don't understand what a scam is? That's my assumption anyway, a classic scam would be Indian cold callers who pretend to be from Microsoft and "you have a virus on your computer", They have one objective, get on your machine and steal as much info (or money) as possible.

 

[whateversa]

I am glad that CIG is pushing forward to build this dream game and that they did not give in to pressure to release anything less than a dream game. The more core components get completed, the quicker features can be built and released on top of it. Being in software development myself I know how difficult this project must be for the developers. The more detailed you go, the more unexpected complexities come up. I recognize that I still prefer they take more time and release something amazing.

 

[whateversa]

Perpetual fund raising == free money .. this is a fancy scam with tech demos

Its not. It is unfortunate that you are allowed to spread fake news like this.

 

[veLa]

Join now for the low low price of 10000$ to get acces to the beta in 2033. (we promise it will come out in 2033!)

Just to be clear, we're talking about access for the beta in 2033. Fall 2044 would be the earliest release date of the actual game

 

[Puiu]

Its not. It is unfortunate that you are allowed to spread fake news like this.

Is it fake? In its current state it is many MANY years away from a proper release. forget the features that are not ready, the current game breaking bugs alone will take several years to fix.

 

[godrilla]

Perpetual fund raising == free money .. this is a fancy scam with tech demos

Can the universe be stimulated? Robert Space industries, Yes 4 ever .

 

[DSirius]

What exactly is the evidence to support Star Citizen being a scam over being another crowdfunding project that took longer than expected to complete? Star Citizen has a game people can play and a game they've clearly been working on. How is changing their EULA, which doesn't effect those who didn't agree with it, "weaselly"? It's not as if there was a loophole they took advantage of. EULA's can be updated and people still have to agree to them.

Did they take all the money purposefully for their financial gain or did they take the money and spend it on making a game? Seems like they spent the money on making a game. Anyone who's done any crowdfunding knows you aren't buying a product or a service. Crowdfunding is donating money to a project hoping to get something out of it. If people think they are being scammed, they should actually read the agreements they agreed to when crowdfunding a project.

You knew how much stuff cost before you bought it, but you bought it anyway. After I backed two or three crowdfunding projects that failed, I stopped supporting companies that have never brought a product to market and/or anything that's well beyond anything that's been brought to market before. I actually read the agreements and knew the risks so when the projects failed, I didn't blame the company, I blamed myself. If you bought digital items for Star Citizen outside of the crowdfunding campaign and after they already missed their timeline that's on you.

SC devs were called out for misleading gamers. First backers were refunded when demanded, after that, SC devs changed EULA to not be possible anymore.
Also CGI, SC devs were caught with false advertising and were forced to change EULA again.

Advertising Standards tells Star Citizen dev to make it clear that for sale "concept ships" don't exist in-game yet

The Advertising Standards Authority has told Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games to make it clearer that for sa…

www.eurogamer.net

When you are doing wrongdoing like these more than once, these kind of practices are more than weaselly.

Star Citizen Reddit forum is full with exactly these kind of debates, how much is SC a scam and what evidences are for this. In my post I stated that CGI-SC devs are the closest I have ever meet to the fine line between a scam and a game into an intentionally prolonged alpha-beta state, than to a SC 1.0 proper game.
And Reddit forum users and some media exposed that keeping a game intentionally in alpha state is deliberately, for financial gaining for SC devs, because they will pay lower taxes than the situations in which they release a finished version 1.0. It is also connected with something about changing into their new Eula for buyers, that they do not "buy" the game anymore, instead they make a "pledge". If you pay for something, do you buy it? Or is SC something close to "The Office" series philosophy?
Thus, in the end, weaselly enough.

Other gaming studios with lower budgets than SC, delivered in less time games comparable with SC.
So until now, SC devs earned more money for themselves than other comparable gaming studio in space sim branch.
There is no other gaming studio with a 600 million $ raised for a game development, so better for SC devs to deliver a proper game instead of their fancy tables with intentionally prolonged alpha roadmaps. In fact SC hired and is paying people dedicated to make fancy tables and roadmaps instead of developing the core game or addressing the bugs faster. But this is a plagues for many gaming studios.

Star Citizen – What’s Going on With It?

With over $444 million in funding, Cloud Imperium Games' space MMOG continues to endure but it's racked up its fair share of controversies.

gamingbolt.com

And I agree with you about crowdfunding, especially after you said what you had experienced with some of them.

 

[dangh]

This, they have over a 1100 staff now I think at last count, They have multiple studios spanning across multiple countries. They've clearly spent the money on making the game.

Sure, they spending money on many things, like houses, yachts, and yes, some going on the game. Problem is, they do not seems to want actually make the game - as in: finish it. The constant 'making' seems to be much better business model.

Scams don't hire people, let alone create over a thousand jobs across multiple countries and Scams don't produce anything. Star Citizen you can literally play the Alpha right now, they do regular video updates on YouTube, they email out updates of Squadron 42.

That's stupid. Scams do hire a lot of people. Especially if they want to cover themselves. Hiring people makes stuff seems legible. And scams are usually starting producing something, simply do not deliver the final product. I was able to play alpha many, many years ago. I seen regular updates many, many years ago, and I seen info on Squadron 42 release date from, like, 2016. so... yeah - IF they will release the game, then they will prove they were good, As for now, after - what - 12 years of development and early stage of it? yeah, it looks like scam.

Maybe people don't understand what a scam is? That's my assumption anyway, a classic scam would be Indian cold callers who pretend to be from Microsoft and "you have a virus on your computer", They have one objective, get on your machine and steal as much info (or money) as possible.

Maybe you think that the Indian cold callers are the only type of scam ever registered? There is a lot of elaborate schemes and scammers. Like religion.
Scammers have an objective, which is to improve their standing, wither by gaining monies or any other power resources.
Scammers create elaborate schemes from 'Let me fix this PC', through: 'I'm a prince from africa and I need your help', to 'I definitely going to deliver you this product, but you need to pay me first'. To steal as much money as possible.
Scammers keep the scheme works until: they are exposed; or: there is no more money to steal, or: they wont stop, they will cal themselves Scientologists, muslims or christians and will influence other to keep scam going.
Scammers often have around easily influenced people who are ready to defend the Big Idea, if the scam takes more than few hours. Helps to keep that eligible and reduces own resources required to keep illusion up.

Now, 13 years after preproduction we have some elements of a game barely allowing touching some activities. Heavily bugged, hilarious performance, milestones never meet to the point hey simple removed them, lack of defined features, no plans about release, lack of clearness, kickstarters goals placed on a 'fiction' shelve, and in 2 years time we will be 15 years into the development... Roberts is 55, 10 years more and he safely can go for retirement. It will be 25 years of development.
And he is either a genius scammer or total ***** of a project manager. Or maybe a dreamer, who is simply realizing his own happy place - continue working in unfinished, badly designed product, and he wasn't able to be happy with unfinished WC4, unfinished Privateer, and any other place he was kicked out from because he never delivered.
Living the dream!