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[Update: Star Citizen on its way to $10 million with new stretch goals.]
On behalf of Chris Roberts and the development team at Cloud Imperium Games Corporation, we can safely say: Mission Complete. Just a few hours ago, the Kickstarter campaign came to a close for Star Citizen, along with the original crowd funding program on the official game’s site. The goal was to raise $2 million to prove to investors that the space sim genre was not dead, $500,000 of which they hoped would come from Kickstarter.
Those targets were hit a while ago and after a late day surge in interest, the Kickstarter page alone brought in over $2.1 million, with over $4.1 million coming from pledges on the official site. Every single added stretch goal was hit and now we wait a full two years before the next-gen triple-A space sim is ready to launch.
For those unfamiliar with the project, Star Citizen is the ambitious single and multiplayer PC space adventure game created by Chris Roberts, the man behind classics including Wing Commander and Freelancer, and it aims to be everything Freelancer was meant to be. It’s set a thousand years in the future where the galaxy is like ancient Rome in that players need to earn their citizenship. One of the many ways to do this is through the story-based Squadron 42 campaign which has been a major focus of the information shared on the game so far.
Much of the game is spent inside the cockpit of various vessels, from small fighters to larger capital ships that players can share and walk around on. Space itself, employs dynamic and procedural physics so ships move as they really would, and damaged thrusters or engines will affect how it can maneuver. Thing Wing Commander, but in a persistent universe, where players can mine, trade, become a pirate, etc.
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The support has been so strong since the game’s announcement that the team shared super early Star Citizen gameplay footage, showcasing the game’s AI (new AI combat footage was released yesterday and can be viewed at the very top, space port footage is just above). And today, with the crowd funding campaign coming to a happy ending, the entire Roberts Space Industries site now redirects to a lengthy thank you message that details their plans going forward for the community and development, beginning with the following paragraph:
Head to page 2 for the full message.
To see the latest additions to the game rewarded for hitting stretch goals, see the updated chart below. At the time of closing, Star Citizen had reached $6,238,563 from 89,668 backers.
For myself, I pledged for the Scout package so I can get an in-game ship and a real-life citizenship card. For those who’ve not supported, there will be purchasable packages coming up, although they won’t have the same benefits like lifetime insurance or free storage for the ships. For those who did back the project early, they’ll be able to add additional bonuses. We don’t know what exactly will be available yet so stay tuned for more Star Citizen information as it rolls out.
Star Citizen hits PC in November 2014.
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Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.
The battle is over and we - PC gamers, space sim fans, WingNuts, Lancers and the rest - have won. You’ve not only met every goal we set, you’ve exceeded them. Star Citizen will be released because of your dedication and your willingness to put your money where our mouths are. Our gratitude is immeasurable; we owe you our livelihoods and will not soon forget it.
The question is: what happens next?
Our intention has always been to make Roberts Space Industries YOUR site. It’s not a public advertisement for the game; it’s a private community for those who are making the game happen. We want your input on what we’re doing and we want to share our plans with you; the occasional passer-by doesn’t concern us. The plan was initially to immediately switch on a wall that would allow only you, our backers, to access features like the Comm-Link and the Spectrum Dispatches. Kickstarter has thrown something of a wrench in this plan: we can’t change the site until the Kickstarter backers are integrated, which may take up to two weeks, otherwise we would be blocking thousands of backers from participating.
Updates and features will continue, returning to a regular schedule in the next few days. The team needs a few days to collect ourselves and reform before jumping into the immense task ahead (after the last month, our husbands, wives, children and yes, pets, miss us!) We will also be launching new sections which have been in the works for some time: the Galactapedia will tell you more about the Star Citizen world, Engineering will introduce you to game mechanics that are being planned and Holovids will offer you video footage from the game as it takes shape.
What about pledges? Good news: those of you who got in on the ground floor are covered. Your ships have lifetime insurance policies and for the next year you will have the ability to purchase further tiers or upgrade existing ones at the initial prices. That’s not true of everyone else: if you want to back Star Citizen and participate in this amazing community, you still can. but it’s going to cost you a little extra as of now, and you aren’t going to have as many extras (no lifetime insurance, for example.)
One issue which concerns us is what to do with the funding tracker. So we’re going to throw the issue up to you: in two weeks, when the wall goes up, what do you want to see done with the tracker? Without the ‘push’ of the campaign it probably won’t update very dramatically. but it’s always possible it will go up enough to reach future stretch goals anyway. Should we keep it, remove it or put it somewhere else? We’ll let the community decide.
We also have previously outlined the ‘behind the screens’ subscription plans available now. They’re designed for users who simply want to give us a little extra support during the development - you’re getting the whole story, regardless - but we will have some extra fun for our monthly contributors.
We can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for this project. Please see the next update on ‘The Pledge’ for our promise to you. The next two years are going to be incredible for all involved and we’re thoroughly happy that all of you are along for this exciting ride.
