Star Citizen is an ambitious MMORPG project that just doesn’t seem to be finished. The crowdfunding funding of the game has now reached a new milestone.
What milestone has Star Citizen reached? The space MMORPG has now raised over 700 million US dollars through crowdfunding, as can be seen on the official website. This milestone was achieved less than a year after reaching the 600 million dollar mark.
According to the developers, all the money goes into development. This means that the space MMORPG has good conditions to become a complete success. Only one thing is still missing: a release date.
Because even almost 12 years after the start of development, Star Citizen is still in Alpha. Recently, the developers stated: The release would “sparkle on the horizon”.
Community divides into different camps
What does the community say? The long-suffering Star Citizen community is no longer easily shaken by such sums. In the Subreddit for Star Citizen, the milestone is discussed in a thread with nearly 600 comments.
One user jokes that his grandchildren might enjoy the game in their real spaceship someday, right after the release of GTA 6. Another replies that this is rather optimistic – perhaps after the Deluxe Edition of a remaster of GTA 5 (via Reddit).
Some players are annoyed by the unfinished state: “700 million dollars and 12 years of development and I still can’t make a simple package delivery without the game crashing in some way. Well invested money,” complains one (via Reddit), another retorts: “700 million and it’s still a half-finished mess.” (via Reddit)
However, others stand behind the MMORPG and its developers. One player explains: “I’m glad they got this funding. They are making the game that I want. Thank you for supporting them.” (via Reddit)
Another player strikes a similar note: “[…] Well deserved! Many of the people who complain have no idea of the ambition and scale of this project, no one else is trying to do what CIG is doing.” (via Reddit)
Although some mock or criticize, the community of Star Citizen apparently still stands behind their MMORPG and hopes that it will be successful. Some are now aiming to reach the billion mark as well.
However, for outsiders, this devotion is difficult to understand.
“Biggest scam in history”
What is said outside the community? A project of the magnitude of Star Citizen also attracts attention beyond its player base. In the more general Games subreddit, there is also a thread with almost 500 comments.
Non-participants seem to follow the MMORPG with a certain fascination: “It’s such an interesting phenomenon: backers desperately want it to succeed and think they need to support it annually. The devs take all the revenue as an excuse to continuously expand the scope and delay it even further. An endless cycle.” (via Reddit)
Some can only shake their heads about Star Citizen: “This must be one of the most successful scams in history, it’s really crazy how people are still buying into it.” (via Reddit)
Most of the money from Star Citizen comes from the sale of virtual ships. For some of these ships, players have to dig really deep into their pockets. However, some players managed to acquire the new ship “Ironclad Assault” surprisingly cheaply. In Star Citizen, a new ship for 515 € is so cheap that they are quickly making it more expensive
