$10,000 for spaceships in Star Citizen – Who does such a thing?

Buying spaceships for the upcoming space MMO Star Citizen can get quite expensive. Some backers spend several thousand dollars for that.

Chris Roberts was able to raise 110 million dollars through his crowdfunding campaign for the development of Star Citizen. A significant portion of this sum comes from supporters who buy one or more of the expensive spaceships. A fan explained that he has spent around 2,000 dollars on the game so far by continuously buying new spaceships. Had his wife not held him back, it would have been a significantly higher amount.

10,000 dollars and more

But that’s nothing compared to others who have “invested” more than 10,000 dollars in the MMO. Those who do get access to the exclusive Million Mile High Club and belong to the “elite” in the game world. A soldier explained that he spent around 13,000 dollars on the game during his deployment in Bahrain. He started with a relatively expensive starter package and spent the bonus payments for his overseas deployment on more and more spaceships in the game.

An audio and video software seller explained that he spent around 20,000 dollars – and thus would not even be in the one percent of the top backers of Star Citizen. There are individuals who started with 10,000 dollars at the beginning and have since spent more and more money on ships. He claims he is not rich but has enough money each month to spend as he wishes – and here he puts a lot into Star Citizen. Others support their favorite sports team and buy merchandise, he does so with Star Citizen.

It’s a hobby

While others buy a car for such sums, it is “normal” for fans of Star Citizen to put this money into their hobby. Normally, you wouldn’t spend it all at once, but over a longer period. It’s simply the money they have left over to have fun. These fans explain that Star Citizen is the project that interests them the most right now and that’s why they keep putting some money into it.

These backers have not lost hope despite many negative comments about the very long development process of Star Citizen. They remain optimistic and look forward to the completion of the game. They firmly believe that Star Citizen will be released and will be a great game. They feel they are keeping track of the development process and are happy that the MMO is being developed without a large publisher behind it. Because with a publisher, a whole game could change. It could be announced as Game A and come to market as Game X. That is not the case with Star Citizen.

Especially the backers who invest a lot of money do so for nostalgic reasons. It’s the game they have been waiting for 20 years. A new Wing Commander or Privateer. Star Citizen is all that and more in one package. Others simply like the design and concept of the ships and the universe.

The finished game is not that important

For many backers, the process of supporting has become almost more important than the actual game. They enjoy every update, every new ship, every module, and being part of the feedback. It could almost be called a kind of “metagame” in which the community and the process of being involved in development becomes almost its own game, with the final product taking a back seat. For some, this could continue for many years. However, they agree that they would like to play the single-player game Squadron 42 as soon as possible.

As “super backers”, they have little understanding for those who are upset about the development process. They try to stay away from those individuals. Chris Roberts simply had such a great idea that the funding skyrocketed, even surprising the developers, who are now a little overwhelmed by how to invest the money in the game. As a result, it grows and grows and becomes more ambitious, but also cooler. And that takes time. One should just look at the shooter aspect, which wasn’t even planned and brings a new dimension to the game, which many find very exciting.

Star Citizen is a phenomenon: Even for the supporters who invest a lot of money, it’s not so much about the finished product, but about being involved in the development process. But for those who don’t want that and cannot come to terms with the idea that a crowdfunding project can fail, they should simply stay away from Kickstarter in the future.

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