Cloud Imperium Games has reportedly amassed over $1,000,000,000 in crowdfunding since starting development on Star Citizen, a new report reveals. This impressive feat comes despite Star Citizen constantly eluding release, while its sister title Squadron 42 spends tons on bringing Hollywood superstars into the mix.
Though official figures on CIG's site show $859 million in funds raised, a new report (thanks IGN) shows Chris Roberts, Star Citizen's lead designer, claimed the studio has amassed over $1 billion total thus far. This is despite the fact that Star Citizen has no clear release date, was announced as far back as 2012, and still continues to be developed, even with so many resources available at hand. What's more, millions play its in-development builds, helping developers shape the title into the best it could be.
Meanwhile, Squadron 42, a spinoff, is set to launch in 2026, according to the same report. This game, which has no doubt taken time and resources away from Star Citizen itself, and stars Hollywood mega-actors like Henry Cavill and Gary Oldman, has also been suspended in development for the better part of a decade, originally planning to release back in 2014.
Thus, for over 13 years now, CIG has slowly worked on getting Star Citizen and Squadron 42 out, with countless delays and broken promises. The pool of collected funds continues to grow and swell, allowing the studio to create massive hype around the two games.
Chris Roberts, according to IGN's report, said internally that Squadron 42 will be on par with GTA 6's release next year. While GTA 6 will likely make back the billion-dollar sum CIG collected for 13 years in one single day, it's almost certain Squadron 42 won't have that big of a splash. It's true that millions continue to fund, support, and play pre-release versions of both games, but their communities pale in comparison to the one Rockstar has amassed, especially post-GTA 5.
Online, communities have torn into Roberts' claims and CIG's history of delaying its titles. Keep in mind that the report indicates Squadron 42 is going to launch next year, with Star Citizen to come by 2028 (and even then, seemingly in episodic format), thus directly competing with GTA 6.
“I thought Squadron 42 was just around the corner like 4 years ago?” one user on Reddit wrote. “At least GTA 6 has a release date,” wrote another, while others still called Star Citizen and CIG's games the “scam of the century.”
The overall sentiment surrounding these games, their creator, and the studio behind them is significantly negative. However, that is still the side that's not playing them, and we can see by the numbers and the money that there are, indeed, people who love the output. Hell, there are even ships in-game costing thousands of dollars, and have been for a decade, so there's that.
All in all, the gist is that we'll see. Star Citizen certainly has made developing a game the most profitable business venture imaginable, as 13 years down the line, CIG is yet to actually release even a single title.
The post Not making a game sure seems like a good business: Star Citizen reportedly crosses $1 billion gross while release remains elusive appeared first on Destructoid.
