There exists few games with the ambition and daunting scope of Star Citizen from Cloud Imperium Games. The massive sci-fi game is looking to not only be a great game in its own right, but to also birth a new genre that blends the mechanics of first-person shooters, open world titles, and MMOs. Considering the ridiculous size of the game, expected to require a 100GB install when it it's all said and done, there are bound to be some hiccups along the way.

Unfortunately, Star Citizen has just hit another roadblock. Alex Mayberry, executive producer on the project, which he joined in 2013 after having spent 10 years at Blizzard, has left Cloud Imperium Games due to unknown personal reasons.

Mayberry was considered an extremely high profile "get" for the Star Citizen development team at Cloud Imperium Games, due to his experience in the industry. As previously stated, Mayberry spent 10 years working at Blizzard, perhaps most notably as a producer for Diablo 3. Most of Mayberry's responsibilities in regards to the Star Citizen project will be absorbed by the studio's current Global Head of Production, Erin Roberts.

Mayberry is the third team member to leave the Star Citizen project in the past month. Travis Day, associate producer, has also recently departed from the studio, as has associate concierge Chelsea Ann Day.

These recent studio departures coupled with other troubles have made some backers uneasy about having supported Star Citizen. Until just recently, development on the game had seemingly been running smooth, but then these departures as well as the indefinite delay of the FPS module have cropped up recently, casting the status of the game's development in doubt.

Early development of Star Citizen had the game off on a strong start, but as is often the case with game development, unforeseen issues have arisen to stall development. In any case, the game has a huge, dedicated group of fans that have invested large amounts of money into the highly ambitious project through Kickstarter as well as other crowdfunding avenues.

Star Citizen is the largest crowdfunding project in history, having surpassed $84 million in funding at last count. Even though issues like the FPS module delay and the departure of high profile talent like executive producer Alex Mayberry will certainly be challenges for the game to overcome, its gargantuan and ever-growing budget should see it through any rough patches.

Are you one of the many backers of Star Citizen? Do the recent studio departures and delayed gameplay features worry you? Share your thoughts on the matter in the comments below, and let us know what you think about the recent issues surrounding the much anticipated game's development.

Star Citizen is due for full release by the end of 2016 for PC and Linux systems.

Source: PC Invasion