'Star Citizen' Crowdfunding Hits $47 Million As Alien Scout Ship Is Revealed

The first version of the long-waited "dogfighting module" known as Arena Commander is now available for backers of Star Citizen and with its release a few weeks ago, players can do more than just walk around a hanger to look at the spacefaring vessels they pre-purchased. Now they can fly them against bots, and better yet, with the latest updates, fly against other players as well.

With each additional playable release, more buzz is generated for Star Citizen and its crowdfunding gets a boost. So, in the last two weeks, the crowdfunding campaign for Star Citizen brought in another two $2 million, thanks to the pre-orders of a newly revealed flyable alien ship and the continuous rolling out of the Arena Commander dogfighting module.

First, let's talk about he new starship known as the Xi’An Khartu-al scout. The particular alien vessel was announced a while ago as a crowdfunding stretch goal but without an image since Star Citizen creator and boss of Cloud Imperium Games Corporation, Chris Roberts, didn't believe the original concept art seen below fit the description of the first ship that has a completely different engine configuration than the other Star Citizen craft.

The Khartu is the light attack craft of the Xi’An military. Contrary to Human ship design, the Khartu doesn’t have a traditional main thruster, instead featuring an array of maneuvering thrusters on articulated rigs. This design allows for incredible agility, making them the bane of UEEpilots, who bestowed the nickname ‘Quark’ because when all of the thrusters are firing, the ship looks like a spark flying through space. The Xi’An Aopoa corporation also manufactures an export model, the Khartu-al, for sale to human civilians as a dedicated scout/explorer. The export model features the same Xi’An maneuvering rig, but control surfaces modified for human use and a more limited armament.

The Xi'an craft is now again available for sale for a limited time until Friday, June 27 and is priced at a steep $150. Be warned, it's not currently available in the hanger or Dogfighting module so the uniquely designed scout may not be flyable for a while.

Thanks to the popularity of Arena Commander and the re-sale of the Xi'an scout, Star Citizen's fan-funded budget is now at a $47 million. The last stretch goal hit asked the community if they would still like to continue with stretch goals and the majority voted yes. Roberts warns that they don't want to keep promising additional big features (see: Feature Creep concerns) unless they genuinely add important stuff, following it up by explaining that " you can expect a number of player rewards and new ways of highlighting Arena Commander as immediate goals." For now, the $47 million milestone unlocks the Engine Tuning Kit.

Engine Tuning Kit — Wilkes & Federman MaxTune Kit has become one of the best-selling starter kits for the discerning home enthusiast. Featured in Whitley’s latest Steal of the Year issue, this kit comes with everything the fledgling engineer needs to take a deeper look into the mechanics of their engine. With a Tap Analyzer, you will be able to view your engine’s current output and energy draw numbers in an easy and comprehensible way. Use the thirty-eight piece omnitool to access your engine to start tweaking. Wilkes & Federman is not responsible for damage incurred after tuning your engine. Please consult with manufacturer’s warranty before performing work.

Next up at $48 million is another high quality commercial/trailer for another one of the in-game ships.

Retaliator Commercial — It was a close race but The Retaliator pulled ahead. The Avenger was a close second. The symbol of the United Empire of Earth’s power is the next ship to receive a slick commercial. Aegis Dynamics is in dire need of good publicity since the end of the of the Messer era. We currently have the Cutlass and the Constellation commercials in production and now the Retaliator will be added to that list.â€‹

And just announced for $49 million goal, they're adding a “space plant” that ties into the newly unveiled alien ship.

Xi’An Space Plant — Similar to a bonsai tree, the Centennial Bloom is a very famous Xi’An plant indigenous to Eealus III that blossoms for one night every one hundred years. They sell the plants in sealed terrariums to traders. Ever since their introduction to the UEE, Humanity has been fascinated by these beautiful plants and the wait for them to bloom.
More Xi'an scout art: