Developer CIG has published interesting statistics about Star Citizen. The numbers reveal, among other things, which countries are the most represented in the space MMO. Based on the most popular spaceships, it becomes clear what the favorite activities of the players are.
Star Citizen and its Solo Campaign Squadron 42 have been in development for over 10 years and have already grossed over 661 million dollars during this period. However, the number of players has also continuously increased and currently stands at over 5 million (via robertsspaceindustries.com). Good reason for developer CIG to publish some numbers and statistics from the past gaming year 2023.
These values leave room for speculation about what the favorite activities within the Star Citizen community were in 2023 and how they are distributed across different player regions. One might suspect that German players contributed significantly to this result and fulfil a typical stereotype in the space MMO.
Numbers about Star Citizen that reveal much about our activities
What kind of statistics are these? At the end of 2023, Star Citizen developer CIG on X shared some statistics with the community. The community learns, for instance, from a total of 4 graphics, which countries most players come from.
Another statistic reveals the top 5 spaceships with particularly high play hours. This indirectly addresses a typical stereotype for which German players are often known: We play to “work.” Apparently, we often find our fun in the game by doing a job.
Where are the most players located? The strongest player region is the USA. In second place is Germany, followed by our French neighbors with the third most players. British citizens secure the 4th place over Canada at rank 5.
Unfortunately, the statistics do not provide absolute numbers. But with currently over 5 million registered players, it is evident that many fans of Star Citizen live in Europe, and German players account for a large share of that.
Which activities are the most popular? In addition to the 5 largest player regions, the ranking of the most popular spaceships is also interesting. Due to the types of ships and their purpose, it can be easily seen which gaming activities were pursued the most in 2023.
In first place for the most flight hours with spaceships is the Drake Vulture. This ship is suitable for solo players who want to be space scrap collectors. It is used for the recovery of unmanned spacecraft.
The gameplay loop of such salvage missions involves finding these abandoned ships and systematically recycling them for profit. This also likely explains the remarkable number of nearly 700,000 completed missions, which are also found in the statistics.
In third place among the most-played ships is the Misc Prospector, which is designed for mining. With it, raw materials and minerals can be mined in space and on planetary surfaces. Minerals can also be harvested with smaller ground vehicles or a tool attachment. However, large-scale mining is possible with the Misc Prospector.
CIG has recognized this as well and has been offering an expensive multiplayer ship for conceptual purchase for some time that will overshadow the two previous mining ships. Thus, the gameplay loop of mining becomes larger, and direct processing of the materials obtained before sale becomes possible. Great! Even more work, confirming our stereotype.
German players prefer to be workers rather than bounty hunters
Where does this stereotype come from? The two mentioned spaceships and the associated professions fulfil a classic stereotype that particularly applies to German players. In the past, Germany’s economy has been internationally praised for its high work ethic and great diligence.
This characteristic has long been transported by a portion of the German players to their leisure activities, more precisely in the consumption of video games. It’s not surprising then, that the world champion in farming simulator happens to be a German.
What could be better than logging into your favorite game after a long day at work and doing some relaxing work there? This has also been elaborated on by colleagues from derstandard.de.
Some of the most popular games in Germany have always been those in which we can build, create, and work. One of the oldest examples: The Settlers, where we build a city and manage its workers.
What do these activities say about us? Essentially, game mechanics such as city building in the very first Settlers with all its tasks (e.g., mining) may not differ much from spaceship recycling or mining in Star Citizen. Provided that both give a player the same feeling of a relaxing activity.
This is supported by the fact that many players from the Star Citizen community are peaceful spaceship pilots who simply want to relax while completing a few jobs, instead of chasing AI villains or real opponents.
What other statistics are available? Further numbers also reveal the spaceships and weapons responsible for the most bounties, including an impressive number of completed bounty missions. However, nearly 400,000 virtual deaths can be attributed to the lack of a helmet in space.
A large-scale test a few months ago, however, suggests that PvP players and especially the spoilsports among them make up only a small part of the “working” population in Star Citizen: PvP drama in Star Citizen: Spoilsports laugh at fair play, harm the game and themselves.
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