Star Citizen Hits $35 Million in Crowdfunding

[Andy Chalk]

Star Citizen Hits $35 Million in Crowdfunding

The Star Citizen team is now seeking input on what to do with the next truckload of money it brings in.

I look forward to the day when I can write "Star Citizen is done!" but until that magic moment arrives I'll have to be content with noting the seemingly endless piles of money the game has been able to attract through crowdfunding. In the latest "Letter From the Chairman," Roberts Space Industries CEO Chris Roberts says the funding total has now surpassed an insane $35 million, thereby unlocking the final fan-voted ship design: the Drake Herald.

"Whether it's colonists struggling to stay in contact with the UEE's central worlds or criminals trading in illicit data, there will always be a need to securely move data. The Drake Herald, a small, armored ship, is designed to fit that need and safely get that information from Point A to Point B," the update states. "Featuring a powerful central engine (for high speed transit and generating the power needed for effective data encryption/containment), advanced encryption software and an armored computer core, the Herald is unique among personal spacecraft in that it is designed to be easily 'cleaned' when in danger of capture. The Herald includes an array of heavy duty internal options for data protection, including redundant power subsystems and EMP shielding, and a high-powered broadcast array for data transmission."

Roberts also revealed that the winner of the $37 million stretch goal poll is the "stellar graveyard" of the Tanga System, a "rectangular planetary nebula" boasting two worlds that once supported life but are now dead and lifeless, the result of the system's red giant star collapsing into a white dwarf. With that out of the way, RSI has opened a new poll, the results of which will be implemented if the game reaches $38 million.

Source: Roberts Space Industries [https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13449-Letter-From-The-Chairman-35-Million]


Permalink

 

[Epic_Bubble]

So to sum it up. We have so much money we don't know what to do with it :/

I'm keen for this game don't get me wrong but I am worried that it just might be going to far down the line with no end or no end goal insight. The mores things added the more time that's added.

We might not even see this thing released in the next 2 years its looking like.

 

[Joos]

Good on Mr Roberts, but I'm sort of glad I didn't spend any money on the kickstarter myself now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really looking forward to playing this game "when it's done" but considering how much money they need to spend to finish it, that is going to take more than a few years methinks.

 

[AldUK]

Good on Mr Roberts, but I'm sort of glad I didn't spend any money on the kickstarter myself now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really looking forward to playing this game "when it's done" but considering how much money they need to spend to finish it, that is going to take more than a few years methinks.

I didn't back it either. Not because I don't want to, but I just can't justify doing so when I'm in a situation where I sometimes have to live on fried egg sandwiches all week.

I love almost everything I hear about the game though and I am very excited for it. I will buy the standard, no-frills edition at launch and I'm sure I'll love the heck out of it. Until then, there's other games.

 

[Joos]

Spoiler

Good on Mr Roberts, but I'm sort of glad I didn't spend any money on the kickstarter myself now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really looking forward to playing this game "when it's done" but considering how much money they need to spend to finish it, that is going to take more than a few years methinks.

I didn't back it either. Not because I don't want to, but I just can't justify doing so when I'm in a situation where I sometimes have to live on fried egg sandwiches all week.

I love almost everything I hear about the game though and I am very excited for it. I will buy the standard, no-frills edition at launch and I'm sure I'll love the heck out of it. Until then, there's other games.

Yea, I agree with everything you said there. Also, don't forget to add ketchup to your eggs and toast mate. Ketchup contains vitamin C which can't be found in either egg, toast or pasta. We don't want you dying from scurvy before you get to see and explore the stars!

 

[caleb451]

Criminy, I think they've reached "decent B-movie budget" by now. I kind of want them to stop with the stretch goals and just focus the extra money on polish for the game.

 

[Rufus Shinra]

Criminy, I think they've reached "decent B-movie budget" by now. I kind of want them to stop with the stretch goals and just focus the extra money on polish for the game.

I think they're actually at that stage, now. An additional ship will cost them something like 10 to 50 grands to design in workhours, maybe twice or thrice for the implementation in the final product. OTOH, they get a full million for those ships or systems, which means they're simply recruiting other people regularly to work on the whole thing.

These new "stretch goals" are more symbolic than anything else, because it's been a while they had all the budget they needed to make everything they wished for, and now that backers are still cashing in, they add what's pretty much third-party mod contents. I'd be much, much more worried if they promised actual new game mechanics either just for the heck of it or to try and justify the money given to them.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

They should use that money to make sure that servers can handle launch day insanity.

 

[BaronIveagh]

This will either be an awesome game, or the greatest scam in gaming history.

 

[Fearzone]

I'll buy this if it is good. My Kickstarter pledges mainly go to small indie studios who really seem like they need it. Too much hype in this one.

 

[Rufus Shinra]

They should use that money to make sure that servers can handle launch day insanity.

It was actually one of the stretch goals a while back, specifically to get additional servers for Europe and Australia, IIRC, as well as the capability to support the large number of players.

 

[Goofguy]

I feel as though they need to buckle down and complete the game within the means they have now. I'm really looking forward to this and there's still almost a year until the proposed release but it seems that they ought to have already stopped collecting funds and focus 100% on development.

 

[AldUK]

I feel as though they need to buckle down and complete the game within the means they have now. I'm really looking forward to this and there's still almost a year until the proposed release but it seems that they ought to have already stopped collecting funds and focus 100% on development.

As far as I can tell from the website, they are focusing on development. The continued crowdfunding takes little time or effort on their part to maintain. And why not keep it going? The more money people donate to the game, the more likely it'll be done to a high standard.

 

[Colt47]

Also, thanks to the generous funding they probably aren't living in cardboard boxes like a lot of development groups are being forced to do these days. It's one of the many reasons I decided to go with application development over game development, even though the later is probably far more inventive and interesting.

 

[Baresark]

They should stop doing that and just make the game. Turn it to making the best game you can with your current roadmap, and if you have money after that, then use it to add shit to the game.... but stop taking people's money to just infinitely stretching the development time. I mean, every so often these article pop up... and it just sounds like a scam.

 

[lacktheknack]

They should stop doing that and just make the game. Turn it to making the best game you can with your current roadmap, and if you have money after that, then use it to add shit to the game.... but stop taking people's money to just infinitely stretching the development time. I mean, every so often these article pop up... and it just sounds like a scam.

That's because you've projected into it so much that you've warped reality.

They've done literally nothing to keep raising funds beyond occasionally coming up with stretch goals. They've never stopped working on the game, they've never stopped hiring more people, they've never delayed on their goals, the game's projected release date is January 2015 and it hasn't moved. They've already released the Hangar Module, they may have already released the dogfight module, etc etc, all as they said they would, when they said they would. They are not adding new features with each stretch goal, just locations and ships.

People simply won't stop throwing wads of cash at them.

EDIT: They've delayed the dogfight module due to the fact that they don't feel it's as good as people are expecting it to be, what with it still being in pre-alpha.

So, that's the first delay, but for a good enough reason. It's still a far cry from "scam".

 

[Saulkar]

They should stop doing that and just make the game. Turn it to making the best game you can with your current roadmap, and if you have money after that, then use it to add shit to the game.... but stop taking people's money to just infinitely stretching the development time. I mean, every so often these article pop up... and it just sounds like a scam.

That's because you've projected into it so much that you've warped reality.

They've done literally nothing to keep raising funds beyond occasionally coming up with stretch goals. They've never stopped working on the game, they've never stopped hiring more people, they've never delayed on their goals, the game's projected release date is January 2015 and it hasn't moved. They've already released the Hangar Module, they may have already released the dogfight module, etc etc, all as they said they would, when they said they would. They are not adding new features with each stretch goal, just locations and ships.

People simply won't stop throwing wads of cash at them.

EDIT: They've delayed the dogfight module due to the fact that they don't feel it's as good as people are expecting it to be, what with it still being in pre-alpha.

So, that's the first delay, but for a good enough reason. It's still a far cry from "scam".

In essence they want to release the the Dog Fighting Module in Beta condition rather than a buggy Alpha in addition to writing their own networking engine as CE3's internal networking engine is shit for something of this scale. Ultimately they want to release something that will appear in the final game instead of a standalone demo. They could have released it this month but we would be playing using said shitty networking engine (or whatever the official term is) and not really be able to provide any meaningful critique to improve it as they would have to throw it out anyway when they finished their own.

 

[Baresark]

They should stop doing that and just make the game. Turn it to making the best game you can with your current roadmap, and if you have money after that, then use it to add shit to the game.... but stop taking people's money to just infinitely stretching the development time. I mean, every so often these article pop up... and it just sounds like a scam.

That's because you've projected into it so much that you've warped reality.

They've done literally nothing to keep raising funds beyond occasionally coming up with stretch goals. They've never stopped working on the game, they've never stopped hiring more people, they've never delayed on their goals, the game's projected release date is January 2015 and it hasn't moved. They've already released the Hangar Module, they may have already released the dogfight module, etc etc, all as they said they would, when they said they would. They are not adding new features with each stretch goal, just locations and ships.

People simply won't stop throwing wads of cash at them.

EDIT: They've delayed the dogfight module due to the fact that they don't feel it's as good as people are expecting it to be, what with it still being in pre-alpha.

So, that's the first delay, but for a good enough reason. It's still a far cry from "scam".

I actually didn't say it was a scam, but it's also easy to see why people reach those conclusions. The way I see it, we should all get used to this kind of thing. So far, I can't think of one single crowdfunded game that has come out poorly enough for people to take pause on giving their money really far in advance for a game. That is fine, it's their money. They can spend it on a game that may or may not ever come out, they can buy food with it, they can burn it, they are pretty much free to do with it as they please.

Also, it's a bit disingenuous to say anyone has warped reality in regards to this matter. No one is wrong until they are actually wrong. And by that I mean the people calling it a scam aren't wrong till they are actually wrong. And I restate for the record, I am not calling this a scam, but it's easy to see why anyone would question it.

 

[Alarien]

God, I hope this game is everything promised.

We've been missing this specific genre for a long time. There have been pretenders to the throne, but this could fulfill a niche that has been long left wanting.

Maybe now I'll finally throw some cash at it.

 

[Corralis]

Back when the game only had around 7-8 million in crowdfunding, I was concerned that the game might fail. Well now it has hit 35 million there is little to no chance that this game won't be finished. To those calling the game a scam well all I can say is this, why would someone put so much development into a scam? We have seen a huge variety of ships, some of which are modeled and in the game and cost the best part of $100,000 to create, we have seen the early version of a working space combat sim, they have multiple company's working on various aspects of this game, huge amounts of manpower and they are still recruiting. If it was a scam then none of that stuff would have been seen and we would still be looking at early concept art.

Star Citizen is more than a game now, it's the vision of one of the most popular game designers this industry has ever seen and it's his reputation on the line here as well. Have faith people.