Chris Roberts and developer Cloud Imperium Games have earned an incredible $37 million dollars from fans alone, according to Gamespot. The game began development in 2011, and is now the best funded project in the history of crowdfunding.
To put that $37 million in perspective, the rumored budget of 2013’s Beyond: Two Souls was $27 million; 2011’s L.A. Noire cost around $50 million.
The game is described as a space trading and combat simulator for the PC. It is a persistent MMO with sections of first-person space combat, somewhat reminiscent of Roberts’ massively popular Wing Commander and Privateer games from the 90s. The game is set in the 30th century, and features both a single player and multiplayer campaigns with drop-in/drop-out co-op. Star Citizen will also offer support for Oculus Rift.
Fans are already flocking to the game, and more than 4,900 Organizations (clan-like groups) were formed in just 12 hours, following the release of a new in-game system to explore.
With the game not scheduled to officially release until 2015, there is still plenty of time for Star Citizen to continue its astounding crowdfunding campaign. So far, more than 367,000 backers have contributed over $37 million, and the developers have set a new stretch goal of $39 million. If – or more likely when – it hits that goal, the final system will be unlocked. You can vote now on what that final system will be, and the options are: Lost Human Colony, Tevarin Ghost World, or Xi’An Science Outpost.
The games is offering a “modular” release model, with new features released over the course of time as funding is received. An official date has yet to be announced, but the final release is tentatively scheduled for 2015.
