Star Citizen Just Hit $1 Billion in Crowdfunding—For a Game That Isn't Out
The never-ending space saga Star Citizen has officially vacuumed up a billion dollars from fans. Led by Chris Roberts, this project makes traditional game development look like a bargain-bin charity case while the release date remains a myth.
The Cloud Imperium Games piggy bank just hit the ten-figure mark, proving that selling dreams of interstellar travel is significantly more profitable than actually building a game. This milestone arrived just as the studio listed the Anvil Odin, a massive combat cruiser, for a cool $5,000. The ship is currently non-functional, existing only as a high-fidelity digital paperweight for those who have more disposable income than sense.
Originally announced back in 2012, Star Citizen has spent over a decade in early access. To put that in perspective, the total funds raised now dwarf the development budgets of massive AAA titles like Horizon Forbidden West or The Last of Us Part 2 combined. The project is managed by Chris Roberts, who has navigated the ship through years of delays and even a security breach earlier this year that compromised user data for both Star Citizen and its spin-off, Squadron 42.
While Squadron 42 is supposedly arriving later this year, the persistent universe remains an eternal work-in-progress. The ability to charge thousands for virtual objects that haven't been coded into a playable state is perhaps the most impressive engine the studio has ever built. Whether this is the ultimate triumph of crowdfunding or a sophisticated social experiment on consumer psychology, the bank account says it's a massive success.
Source: Roberts Space Industries
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