Roberts Space Industries and Cloud Imperium Games have announced a massive new funding milestone for the PC space sim Star Citizen–the game has now exceeded $1 billion in crowdfunding since the campaign launched in 2012.
At press time, the game’s public funding stands at $1.007 billion from more than 6.5 million people.
While Star Citizen is playable currently, the game remains in early access after some 10 years of ongoing development. Chris Roberts, the founder of Roberts Space Industries, said Star Citizen’s standalone single-player game featuring many, many celebrities–Squadron 42–is targeting a 2026 release. The 1.0 version of Star Citizen is expected to follow later.
Roberts told Variety recently that it “feels pretty epic” to be so close to Star Citizen’s 1.0 release. He said the studio is in the “closing stages” and that the game is “coming together really well.”
“I’ve been very lucky as a creative because I’ve had the ability to take the time and have the funding to really do it. James Cameron had that when he was doing his Avatars,” he said. “This is sort of like my version of it in games where I’ve had the time; I’ve been able to spend the time to get the tech. And so the vision that’s being delivered is really my imagination, my vision from the beginning, and that’s not something you always get the chance to do. So I’m pretty grateful for that, and I’m also very excited for people on the outside to experience it.”
Star Citizen has courted a fair share of controversy over the years. One backer was upset that Star Citizen was taking so long to materialize that they spoke to their state’s attorney general and ultimately got a refund. Star Citizen and its developer were also caught up in a lawsuit from Crytek over the game’s use of the CryEngine.
One of the ways that Star Citizen makes money currently is by selling ships, like the newly announced $5,000 Anvil Odin. This is a ship concept, and not something that can be used in the game currently–that will come later, according to IGN.
Not every ship costs this much, however, as prices in the ship store including a wide range. There are also various upgrades players can purchase for their ships, as well as $10 and $20/month subscription bundles. Star Citizen itself, meanwhile, costs $45.
The Squadron 42 single-player game features a number of big-name actors, including Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong, John Rhys-Davies, Liam Cunningham, Ben Mendelsohn, Gillian Anderson, and Andy Serkis.