Star Citizen Has Raked In $590 Million Over 10 Years Of Crowdfunding
Star Citizen continues to amass funds through its crowdfunding campaign despite being in an extended alpha testing phase for nearly a decade. The game has recently reached an impressive total of $590 million in crowdfunding, with a surge in pledges observed in May, possibly attributed to the Invictus Launch Week free-fly event.
To put this enormous budget into perspective, PCGamesN has compared the reported development costs of other major titles. Grand Theft Auto 5 reportedly cost $137 million, Red Dead Redemption 2 cost $170 million, and Cyberpunk 2077 cost $174 million, totaling $481 million. Surprisingly, these three highly anticipated games had a lower budget combined than Star Citizen, which is still stuck in alpha testing.
That’s not saying that there haven’t been significant improvements made to the game over the past decade, with more coming in the foreseeable future. In the Star Citizen’s updated June roadmap, the development team at Cloud Imperium Games highlights various areas of improvement. This includes enhancements to wheeled vehicle handling and the introduction of playable ships like the Mirai Fury and Tumbril Storm.
Meanwhile, the May monthly report for Squadron 42, the game’s standalone single-player campaign, mentions progress in AI development, character creation features, adjustments to ship and vehicle handling, and the creation of capital ships in Stanton and Krugeri.
Interestingly, the purchase button for Squadron 42 has yet to be re-enabled, indicating that an “expected price change” is still on the horizon. Meanwhile, CIG continues to generate revenue through its crowdfunding campaign.
