Star Citizen ends crowdfunding with $6.2 million

Chris Roberts' ambitious space sim Star Citizen has completed its push for cash, gathering more than $6.2 million from Kickstarter and its official Roberts Space Industries site. The combined total makes it the largest crowdfunded game to date.

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Chris Roberts' ambitious space sim Star Citizen has completed its push for cash, gathering more than $6.2 million from Kickstarter and pledges on its official Roberts Space Industries site. The combined total makes it the largest crowdfunded game to date.

The RSI site now forwards to a thank you note, with promises of further updates in a few days. "We will also be launching new sections which have been in the works for some time: the Galactapedia will tell you more about the Star Citizen world, Engineering will introduce you to game mechanics that are being planned and Holovids will offer you video footage from the game as it takes shape."

The funding, which easily surpassed the the previous crowdfunding record of $4 million that fantasy RPG Project Eternity garnered for Obsidian Entertainment, kicked into overdrive during the weekend, with an announcement late Friday that the game had passed the $4.1 million barrier. But by early today, funding had passed the $5.5 million barrier, ensuring the last stretch goal of the largest player-operated ship, the Bengal Carrier. The funding also ensures additional capital Roberts secured to fund the game, which will be specifically aimed at high-end PCs.

In case you missed it, the development team at Cloud Imperium Games released two more soundless work-in-progress videos, the first showing how the concept art for the spaceport was evolving in-game, and the second giving a little more of a glimpse of the game's AI.

Contributing Editor
From The Chatty
  • reply
    November 19, 2012 2:30 PM

    John Keefer posted a new article, Star Citizen ends crowdfunding with $6.2 million.

    Chris Roberts' ambitious space sim Star Citizen has completed its push for cash, gathering more than $6.2 million from Kickstarter and its official Roberts Space Industries site. The combined total makes it the largest crowdfunded game to date.

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      November 19, 2012 2:33 PM

      Holly fucking shit.

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      November 19, 2012 2:34 PM

      I can't wait for the dogfighting alpha next year.

      I also noticed, that unless you pledged, you won't get access to the Roberts Space Industries website until much closer to release in 2014.
      Sounds like they're trying to create a tight-knit community page just for pledgers. (all 90,000 of them)

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        November 19, 2012 4:03 PM

        Sadly 90,000 unit sales of a game today is still considered a bomb by publishers.. ;(

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          November 19, 2012 4:15 PM

          It's more that its difficult to sell 90k copies and end up not losing money. It's pretty easy to burn through cash trying to hit the art and feature bar that people want out of a game. Those 90k copies through steam would be maybe half of the money they've currently just rasied on Kickstarter.

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            November 19, 2012 7:51 PM

            Less than a quarter, actually. Think about it, some people are pledging $10k. Nobody does that for a single game through Steam, nor is is possible.

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          November 19, 2012 4:31 PM

          That's 90,000 pledges to a game that's released in 2 years time. That's pretty damn good if you ask me.

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            November 19, 2012 5:52 PM

            Oh I'm not bagging on the accomplishment at all! I'm very excited about it, I'm just lamenting the fact that today's publishers consider 90k in sales a bomb.. ;(

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              November 19, 2012 9:47 PM

              If Star Citizen delivers the goods, the'll get all the publicity that a AAA title earns from major review outlets. That will drive more traffic to their site, which means more copies solid and a higher return on their investment.

              Also, they'll need fewer sales beyond the original 90k to be considered a hit, because they're cutting out the middlemen. Fewer hands dipping into the coffers means more funds for building the game, and organic publicity/hype means they don't need to spend as much -- if any -- money to get the same attention that a high-profile, high cost AAA title would require just to break even.

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            November 19, 2012 10:10 PM

            Dognose had a preorder for DNF for like 12 years. That's dedication.

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          November 19, 2012 4:40 PM

          Kickstarted games are still sold through traditional means after they are created. The bulk of actual sales will hopefully come when the game is finished.

          That's not 90k sales. It's 90k pre-orders averaging almost $70 per person.

          90k is pretty damn good for pre-sales for a product that doesn't exist, couldn't get "normal" funding, and sold through unusual means (Kickstarter as opposed to a video game retailer).

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            November 20, 2012 8:48 AM

            ALL this is correct.

            If they get HALF the things that they promised correct, this game is going to be a smash hit. People won't mention TIE FIGHTER reverentially anymore, they'll mention this.

            It'll sell gangbusters.

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      November 19, 2012 4:22 PM

      [deleted]

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        November 19, 2012 5:21 PM

        ...and wait until 2014!

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        November 19, 2012 5:34 PM

        [deleted]

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        November 19, 2012 8:28 PM

        X-Wing and TIE Fighter are dead. That series has been ruined by the prequels. We just need to wait and see if the new movies warrant a revival.

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        November 19, 2012 8:30 PM

        i feel like even if they released equivalently good space sims, but they were prequel / "new" lucasarts universe stuff, they wouldn't be as good for us old fucks

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        November 20, 2012 1:15 AM

        It's in the hands of Mickey Mouse now.

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        November 20, 2012 1:45 AM

        GUMMY X-WINGS IN KINGDOM HEARTS 3! Probably as close as we're getting.

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      November 19, 2012 5:23 PM

      Holy shit, I thought that top video was an oil painting until the camera started to rotate around.

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        November 19, 2012 6:10 PM

        It started as one and then they switch it out after they zoom back in.

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      November 19, 2012 6:23 PM

      What is this ship insurance? I pledged day one and only just now hear about this? Did I miss out on something?

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        November 19, 2012 7:10 PM

        When your ship get exploded in the game you get it back minus any upgrades you did to the stock hull.

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          November 19, 2012 7:11 PM

          Normally you get it included with a new ship for a number of months and then you have to pay for it or you lose your ship when you die.

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      November 19, 2012 6:55 PM

      Chris Roberts flees the country

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        November 19, 2012 7:52 PM

        I gotta help my homeboy Mcafee, it's a pact we made. sorry everyone bbl

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          November 20, 2012 12:42 AM

          When I was watching the live stream and it was 2 minutes to the end of Kickstarter countdown and Chris was nowhere to be seen ("where is chris?"; "he told me he will be here shortly") I was thinking he is already in the bank waiting to cash out and leave the country.

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      November 19, 2012 9:03 PM

      This is my first time hearing about this game. WHAT THE FUCK I WANT THIS

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        November 19, 2012 9:07 PM

        WOO 'A lamp'!!!!! (backstory - in the live feed they taped a note to a lampshade saying they'll be back soon while they got dinner last night - internet ran with it demanding the lamp be given a place of prominence in the game).

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      November 19, 2012 9:10 PM

      Odd that this game would have cost $20 million to make 10 years ago.

      Wonder whats different...

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        November 19, 2012 9:12 PM

        He doesn't have to build an engine from scratch - he's using CryEngine3 instead of in-house.

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          November 19, 2012 9:16 PM

          I was wondering why it looked so hot. GOD DAMN

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        November 19, 2012 9:18 PM

        [deleted]

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        November 19, 2012 9:21 PM

        He isn't making the game on 6 mil, he is making the tech demo, etc to get real funding. I've heard he already has 20-50mil from real backers. Could've just been rumors I read on the Shack, though.

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      November 19, 2012 9:31 PM

      why? ill never know

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      November 19, 2012 9:51 PM

      [deleted]

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      November 20, 2012 12:01 AM

      So why exactly do I need to buy ships for a sp game? are they not unlockable? do i permanently lose them when i die?

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        November 20, 2012 12:33 AM

        The single player portion seems like your typical space sim campaign. Its the online portion that will have 1 master server and the ability to host your own server that utilizes insurance and such. When your online ship is destroyed, you need to buy a new one or have insurance replace your old one.

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      November 20, 2012 2:37 AM

      [deleted]

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        November 20, 2012 6:12 AM

        I think it will be comparable. They're very similar games. But whether it will be as good remains to be seen. Freespace was in many regards more sophisticated than Wing Commander, but at the same time, it was kind of a natural progression from Wing Commander. Maybe the original Quake and the first Unreal game would be a fair comparison. If Star Citizen will be a copy of Wing Commander I don't think it will be as good. It would be too simplistic, with far too much cheese. It needs to be a reimagining. Like Freespace it needs to take it's original concept and take it a few steps further, in writing, design, complexity. Personally I have hopes it will be as good, or better.

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