The upcoming MMO space simulation Star Citizen has made fans a lot of promises over the years, and now one of those bold marketing strategies appears to have backfired. After a disgruntled fan complained to the UK's Advertising Standards Authority about a lack of transparency, Star Citizen has edited its promo emails to include a disclaimer.
Star Citizen is setting crowdfunding records despite the game still not having a concrete release date set. One of the ways the game raises money is by sending out promo and marketing emails advertising from developer Cloud Imperium Games. However, Redditor Mazty, fed up with constant delays and alleged misinformation, reported the Gatac Railen ship promo email to the UK's Advertising Standards Authority for a simple reason: the email did not mention the ship's price or the fact that the ship "does not exist and might never exist" in the actual game.
Star Citizen currently allows players to purchase pledge ships, which are work-in-progress vessels sold to fund the development of the game. The ships do not actually exist in a useable state at the time they are being sold, and as this isn't clear from the email, the ASA came down on the developers. It appears that from now on, the Star Citizen team will have to be more transparent about their promises, even if that transparency comes in the form of a disclaimer.
The ASA informed Mazty that it would be taking action and the developers quickly changed the promo email to include a disclaimer clarifying the situation. It appears that from now on, all concept ships for sale will be accompanied by a disclaimer informing backers that these Star Citizen ships are in development, but currently not ready for use. Reportedly, the preorder ships will be added to the game in a later patch.
As of writing, this development appears to have been greeted with grim satisfaction by other fans. Star Citizen is already one of the most expensive games ever made, and it seems that many fans have grown disillusioned with the lack of progress made. One user called Mazty their personal hero for doing something about Star Citizen's misleading marketing materials. Another suggested Mazty write to the ASA again about Star Citizen's promotional videos as well, though they did not mention any specific offenses or omissions found in the videos that might require the ASA to be informed.
Star Citizen is currently in development for PC.
Source: Reddit