Cloud Imperium Games’ (CIG) title has reached yet another staggering milestone and is now being developed with an enormous budget.

Nearly 14 years ago, industry veteran Chris Roberts launched the Star Citizen Kickstarter campaign. He promised an ambitious spiritual successor to Wing Commander and Freelancer, which would be released in a genre considered dying or niche at the time. The campaign immediately resonated with fans, raising over $2.1 million from nearly 35,000 backers. But that was just the beginning. After the Kickstarter campaign ended, Roberts continued to allow fans to back the game through the official Star Citizen website. Through massive hype and clever marketing strategies, CIG has continued to sell access to the game and in-game ships, far surpassing any other crowdfunded game in history.

Annual contributions from Star Citizen fans grew slowly but surely, and after the pandemic, they suddenly skyrocketed. A few months ago, the total crossed the $900 million mark. It has now surpassed the incredible milestone of $1 billion, pledged by more than six and a half million fans – an average contribution of $153 per user. The following table shows the annual trend:

In its early years, Star Citizen was branded as vaporware and a potential scam. However, CIG’s regular updates have largely silenced such criticism. Earlier this month, the Alpha 4.8 update was released, featuring a full economic and persistence reset, as well as a new six-phase squad assault called the Tactical Strike Group. This new feature sends players to a fortified Nyx asteroid base, where they must divide their roles between outer space combat, trench warfare, and an FPS-style onboard segment. The mission adds a strong tactical element with the Tranquility Idris, the team’s mobile rearmament, repair, and resupply hub during the assault.

The phases are varied and designed to emphasize coordination. Players must rescue hostage pilot Gabe Windell, defend the Idris during the approach, destroy the power transfer relays with ballistic weapons, clear the cooling units with energy weapons, breach the core while defending the Tranquility, and board the station to achieve the FPS objective. Fueling is now a full-fledged gameplay cycle in Star Citizen, not just a support function. Additional new features in Alpha 4.8 include new refueling contracts, refueling beacons for players in distress, and a separate operator mode for refueling ships, similar to rescue or mining modes. Additionally, the refueling process has been revamped to be faster and more streamlined, thanks to new fuel tanks and nozzles, UI changes, and automatic fuel flow after purchase confirmation.

By the way, there’s still no release date for version 1.0. Last year, Chris Roberts said the game might be released in 2027 or 2028. Meanwhile, 2026 is reportedly the planned release date for Squadron 42, the single-player campaign featuring a star-studded cast. However, in an interview published earlier this month in This Week in Videogames, Roberts could not guarantee this due to Grand Theft Auto VI. They aim to release Squadron 42 before GTA VI, but if that doesn’t work out, the release could be delayed.

Source: WCCFTech, This Week In Videogames