With "Star Citizen" in the works since 2011, Cloud Imperium has displayed an impressive amount of transparency regarding the funding and the game's development process. "We were impressed by the vision and passion that Chris and the formidable global team he has assembled have put into building Star Citizen, and we think that the direct and transparent relationship they have built with their players is a strong foundation for a next-generation gaming company," the Calders said in a statement at the time. With the investment, Cloud Imperium itself is valued at $496 million, just under half a billion dollars. Rex December 20, 2018Ĭloud Imperium recently announced that South African billionaire Clive Calder and his son, "Blindspotting" director Keith Calder, had invested $46 million in exchange for a 10 percent share of the company.
Backers can participate in the game's alpha test, which regularly incorporates newly developed content and offers a preview of the full game. As more funding has come in, the development team has been consistently adding new layers of depth to the game. The game promises an interactive world with a scale that is unmatched by any video game released thus far, taking players between planets and space station hubs. Gameplay will include flight simulation, first-person shooting, exploration, and roleplaying elements like quests and player progression.
"Star Citizen" strives to be a complete sandbox set in space, allowing players to define the game for themselves.
Read more: See Why People Have Pledged More Than $200 Million For This Epic Space Game With a budget exceeding $200 million, "Star Citizen" is already on track to be one of the most expensive video games ever made, rivaling all-time best-sellers like "Grand Theft Auto V" and "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2." However, the overwhelming number of backers led the development team to reconsider the scope of the project entirely.Ĭloud Imperium Games reports that the project now has more than 2,200,000 backers, and they've helped push the budget to $212,623,319, as of December 26, 2018.
In October 2012, the then-new Cloud Imperium Games launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $500,000 for "Star Citizen," a new space simulator and the follow-up to founder Chris Roberts' previous games, "Wing Commander" and "Freelancer." Like most crowdfunding campaigns, "Star Citizen" had a number of stretch goals in place, should the project exceed the $500,000 mark. Star Citizen is expected to be released in late 2014.Star Citizen has been in development since 2011. Support for the virtual-reality headset Oculus Rift is planned. Roberts has said that Star Citizen will fuse elements of his previous games, Wing Commander and Freelancer. Last week, Cloud Imperium Games announced a modding competition for the game. The game itself centres on a storyline that is set in a persistent online universe. Star Citizen has been in development at Cloud Imperium Games for more than a year. In addition, reaching this goal will allow Cloud Imperium Games to increase the number of remaining alpha slots, though specific figures were not provided.
He explained that if funding reaches this level, the studio will be able to invest in a "wider infrastructure" for early testing. Should funding reach $25 million, an "enhanced alpha" for Star Citizen will be offered, Roberts revealed. Those who have backed Star Citizen so far will receive a mode of the Khartu for their hangar, though it won't be delivered immediately, Roberts said. "The goal here isn’t simply to add an extra ship to the game, but to add a new type of ship which can be expanded upon as we go," Roberts said. Now that funding has reached $23 million,the Xi'an Scout ship is unlocked. "We are in uncharted waters here the community is allowing us to do something truly new, for which you have my eternal gratitude," Roberts said in a statement. Star Citizen is the most crowdfunded project of any kind in history.Īt press time, funding stands at $23,069,614 from 277,643 total backers.
Star Citizen, the upcoming PC space simulator from Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts and Cloud Imperium Games, has surpassed $23 million in funding, up from $21 million earlier this month.