Star Citizen has passed yet another milestone related to crowdfunding. It has been almost a decade since Chris Roberts' space-sim game was introduced to the world, a project of bold dreams that sought to redefine the landscape of gaming by offering players an experience they could previously only fantasize about. It has indeed been a decade, and though Star Citizen continues to break crowdfunding milestones, it finds itself stuck in a perpetual state of development with no end in sight.
One would assume that Star Citizen is experiencing development hell, but that would imply this hasn't been the project's chosen direction under Cloud Imperium Games and its director Chris Roberts. In fact, one could more truthfully claim that Star Citizen is undergoing development heaven, as the project's lofty aspirations continue to skyrocket into the clouds. Star Citizen's vision has only widened over the years, as the project remains in a state of open Alpha for its backers – posing as the most expensive tech demo ever made, rather than a fully-realized game.
Today, Star Citizen has surpassed over $500 million in crowdfunding, and though few can deny that those resources have been spent on developing the game, many voices across the gaming community argue that they haven't been spent well. Players are often treated to free-fly events in Star Citizen, where one such event took place this September, and they offer people a chance to earnestly try the space-sim for a limited period – free of charge.
Most who have experienced Star Citizen cannot deny that it is every bit as impressive as its mission statement makes it out to be, but many disillusioned Star Citizen backers feel cheated that the space-sim of their dreams is far from complete. The individual aspects of Star Citizen are undoubtedly stellar, but the whole is lesser than the sum of its parts – because many of its core parts are still missing.
Originally announced as a single-player campaign to introduce players to Star Citizen's multiplayer experience, Squadron 42 remains trapped in a similar conundrum, with its initial release date of 2014 pushed indefinitely over the years. Boasting a star-studded Hollywood cast of actors such as Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman, and Henry Cavill, it was meant to help tide the players over until Star Citizen was ready to launch. The latest news concerning the project came this year when Cloud Imperium Games reported that it still needed a few more years before Squadron 42's story mode was capable of meeting Chris Roberts' standards.
As crowdfunding packs for Star Citizen costing up to $40,000 remain a part of its long development, the gaming industry has since evolved to accommodate the space-sim vision that Star Citizen once championed. Between a redeemed No Man's Sky and Bethesda's Starfield set to release next year, one can't help but wonder if Star Citizen missed its shot.
Star Citizen is in development for PC.
Source: Roberts Space Industries