Star Citizen shoots through $350m raised mark
In universe.
Controversial PC space game Star Citizen has shot through the $350m raised mark.
The game's official website reveals Star Citizen has now raised a whopping $351,026,475 from over three million customers. Star Citizen hit $300m in June last year.
Over eight years after its initial crowdfunding effort began, Star Citizen is still without a release date, although parts of the game have been released in early access form. Squadron 42, the single-player portion of the game, is still in development but does not have a release date.
Star Citizen and chief developer Chris Roberts have come under fire for years now for failing to release the game, or provide a target release date. Developer Cloud Imperium Games makes money by selling starter packs, subscriptions and virtual space ships - some of which cannot currently be piloted in-game. CIG insists money pledged goes directly to the game's development.
CIG provides real-time updates on the money flooding into its coffers, and we can see November last year was a bumper month for Star Citizen, bringing in nearly $17m alone as CIG held the game's annual two-week free access period. The months since have been leaner: nearly $6m came in in December, just over $3m in January and around $5m in February. Nearly half a million dollars came in on 12th March alone.
Star Citizen's initial crowdfunding campaign set the bar high, securing over $6m back in 2012. Despite the space sim having missed its original anticipated release date of November 2014 by quite some margin (not to mention a succession of other milestone targets for its various announced modes), that figure has continued to climb dramatically in the years since.
Star Citizen is currently in alpha version 3.12. CIG tentatively predicts the game will hit alpha 3.16 by the end of 2021.