Star Citizen 1.0 'Twinkles on the Horizon', Dev Says — 12 Years and $669 Million Later
The developers of space sim Star Citizen are now talking about the 1.0 launch being within sight, some 12 years after the game launched its first crowdfunding drive.
Star Citizen is considered one of the most controversial projects in all video games. Over the 12 years since its crowdfunding drive began, it's been called many things, including a scam by those who wonder whether it will ever properly launch. Its virtual space ships, some of which cost hundreds of dollars, are often the focus of criticism. At the time of this article’s publication, Star Citizen had pulled in an eye-watering $669,559,892 from players. Developer Cloud Imperium Games calls this money “funds raised.”
In a blog post, CIG chief Chris Roberts said 2024 will see the launch of Star Citizen Alpha 4.0 (yes, Star Citizen is still in alpha), and that the developer is working to bring features developed for Squadron 42, the standalone story-based game starring the likes of Mark Hamill and Gillian Anderson, to the persistent universe portion of the game “at an accelerated rate.”
This is all building up to Star Citizen 1.0, which, Roberts said, “is what we consider the features and content set to represent ‘commercial’ release.” “This means that the game is welcoming to new players, stable, and polished with enough gameplay and content to engage players continuously,” Roberts added. “In other words, it is no longer Alpha or Early Access.” However, there is still no release date or even release window for Star Citizen 1.0. CIG will share the roadmap later this year. For now, “Star Citizen 1.0 twinkles on the horizon!” Roberts said.
Roberts then touched upon changes at Cloud Imperium Games, some of which have to do with recent layoffs and a controversial relocation plan IGN reported on last month. Rich Tyrer is now senior game director, overseeing the development of Star Citizen and Squadron 42 alongside Roberts. Roberts said CIG had made the “difficult decision” to ask the Los Angeles development team to
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