Star Citizen, the space trading and combat simulation title that has been in the works since 2010, is the definition of a castle in the sky for some. Yet, this player has sunk $100,000 in the development of the game without even breaking a sweat.
How do I even begin to explain Star Citizen? Following the significant success of its Kickstarter in 2012, Cloud Imperium Games set to work on the enviable ambition of the game yet the sheer scale of the project meant that the release of Star Citizen was pushed backwards again and again. However, the "modules" allowed players to test-drive gameplay before these elements were officially integrated into the game, and the "Persistent Universe" module combines the three previous modules into one coherent experience. Over three million users have leapt on board the Star Citizen train and almost $376 million has been pledged to its development, earning its place as one of the highest-funded crowdfunding projects in history.
As per the game's official website, funding goals unlock different additions to the game. For example, once $3 million had been raised, players got cockpit decorations for their spaceships - "amaze your friends with bobbleheads, photographs, dinosaurs, fuzzy dice, nose art, posters and many more cool options!" That is some extremely expensive tat, if you ask me, but the game's momentum simply cannot be stopped. Even in spite of the complaints, controversies, and legal tussle between Cloud Imperium Games and Crytek.
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In an interview with Bored Gamer, a player revealed that they have spent a whopping $100,000 on Star Citizen's development. JP started supporting the project four years ago, with a donation of $5,100. At the time, they were running their own tech company and trained as a software engineer, so their skill set ensures that they'll always be able to find other sources of income. In fact, they consider the total of $100,000 to be chump change, stating that it's "not a significant amount of money if you consider Vegas." Who wants to go on a night on the tiles with this player? Form an orderly line, please.
They were also willing to share their perspective on Star Citizen's trajectory, and what they are and are not so happy with. The game being a work in progress is part of what makes the investment so irresistible to JP, because they can work with the studio to identify glitches and improve the game, as well as collecting the latest spaceships. Crucially, they don't see Star Citizen as a pay-to-win title because the studio balances the new ships sooner or later.
Nevertheless, he does have a bone to pick with Cloud Imperium Games on a few fronts. "I wish there was a funding model that made sense where I could pledge for game functionality other than just ships," said JP. "It would be great if I could be like 'Hey, I really love trade. How do I spend $700 so that it's going to trade beyond just buying a ship?' The current funding model scares me because I feel like they have to keep on pumping out more and more ships. [...] As they keep adding more ships, that's more code for them to maintain, that's more objects for them to maintain, more entries, more everything."
Featured Image Credit: Cloud Imperium Games