Star Citizen Kickstarter successful
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Crowd-funding campaign for Chris Roberts' new high-end PC space sim eclipses $500,000 target with 26 days remaining; total funding stands at $1.87 million.
The Kickstarter campaign for Chris Roberts' new high-end space simulator Star Citizen has proven successful in just one week. At press time, the fund stands at $521,860 from over 11,000 backers, exceeding the project's original $500,000 target.
Star Citizen's Kickstarter fund is actually the game's second crowd-funding source. It follows the donor page at the Roberts Space Industries website, which currently stands at $1.35 million from nearly 15,000 backers. Across both options, Star Citizen has been funded to the tune of $1.87 million of its $2 million total target.
Star Citizen has been in development at Cloud Imperium Games for 12 months. The game itself includes a "sophisticated storyline" that is set in a persistent online universe. According to Roberts, it will fuse elements of his previous games, Wing Commander and Freelancer, and support for the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift is planned.
Much like Guild Wars 2, Star Citizen will be available through a one-time purchase, but will not require a subscription. Players can also purchase virtual items with real-world money to customize their ships.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
69 comments
Can I just go ahead a dismiss this game for being like every other disappointment with their quoted 'sophisticated storyline?' Would you say yes if I told you I care more about what you can do in a game and almost nothing about a story, especially when that is used as a selling point because there, in fact, isn't much else to the game??
@tgwolfno you can't go ahead and do that, because its coming from a place of ignorance.
I'm not really sure what the negative comments are all about. It looks awesome and the gifts you get for funding sound pretty great compared to some kick starters. Cut out EA and get bonus gifts. Sign me up.
Chris Roberts doesn't look like he aged well. I thought about plucking down $60 for this game, but it's going to be 2 years or more before it sees the light of day. I'd rather just wait until it's done and then buy it off his website. The only good reason to opt in immediately is you'll be able to Beta/Alpha test the game for months before it's released. That's always a nice advantage. I'm sure he'll get it completed, but I'm just wondering how long it will take.
I prefer the traditional way of doing business, you make product, I review product and then I buy if I think it's worth it. I've been stung by buying into games via pre-order before only to find it buggy, DRM crippled or worse.
As a freelancer and freespace veteran, I hope my skills transfer over ;D This game looks fantastic! man, I haven't played a space sim in about over a decade...
Well watching the first 5 minutes of it I thought this is nice CG...then the guy comes on and talks about it being ingame graphics, talk about being schocked. This looks like a freaking awesome game!!! Did play elite and wing commander in the good ole days and enjoyed both. This looks like more of the same which is a good thing...a very good thing :-) Will be watching closely for this title in days to come.
Dude needs to hire someone to do the conference for him, sounds worse than me doing powerpoint presentations in college, lol.
Other than that I'm reading he's using shit tons of polys basically just because he can, with no details on minimum requirements or if they're even going to scale it down for people with mid range/low end PC.
Sounds interesting and will be interested to hear just what they can add to the game for it being PC exclusive, but ver uneasy about the real money purchases, since it's already showing donate more = more ingame stuff, but will keep an eye on it.
I don't get it. It's just another generic AAA title minus the company backing. Why should I play this over something made by, say, Infinity Ward. Indie games =/= guaranteed to please everyone.
8 Like Well, let's see, first of all it is fully designed for the PC. That's not designed for consoles (not even the next gen consoles) then getting a few bells and whistles tacked on. Second, it has a single-player campaign much like Wing Commander - do you know how exceedingly rare those are now?? Third, there is no publisher to fight for Joe Casual, this game is looking to be pretty hard core.
That's great. But, I wouldn't get too excited until at least one of many multi-million dollar Kickstarter projects is actually delivered. People tend to forget that it's not a pre-order -- it's an investment in an idea.
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@Volgin FTL didn't have the same type of expectations or budget. Wasteland 2, Shadowrun, this game, Project Eternity -- those games got millions in funding and, as a result, are going to be scrutinized a lot more than an unknown indie game like FTL.
@Deckard2323A very high risk investment, too, but it's still neat to hear that it has a good chance of getting made. If this thing works out, it's going to be stunning.
2 Like @the_hunger Star Citizen technically has 2 games in it. Squadron 42 which is the mission based thing ala Starlancer (I presume) and an open world (universe?) type game like Freelancer's post-story.
seeing Kickstarter made me sad,,
it explains that only few Core Gamers responsible for the overall PC Gaming ecosystem,,
while the other suckers relish the games with pirated version
fuck you pirates,,
because of you we losing Troika, Iron Lore, etc.
=(
for real PC users,, you're the Hero man,,
=)
@Ladiesman17 Sorry, I'm not sure why seeing Kickstarter makes you sad. Are you saying it's because a game like Star Citizen won't get funded the "normal" way? I'm not sure what it has to do with piracy, but I might be missing an implication somewhere.
In the FAQ, Chris Roberts does mention the question, "Why Kickstarter?" To which he replies, "Why not?" There's some more detail available, but essentially the idea is that since the crowdfunding model has seen some success, why not cut out the middleman (EA, Activision) and not have to worry about being answerable to some corporate big wigs.
sorry for the shit explanation,,
I mean,, I'm sad because since a long time core gamers consistently support PC Gaming,, (that's either general purchases, kickstarter, or other forms) they're the major foundation for the PC to continue to grow.
while on the other hand,, other cheaters continually using pirated version,, that ruins the whole ecosystem that maintained by true gamers.
and sorry for the awesomely awful grammar.
lol
@Ladiesman17 @chibi-acer I use to support the entire PC universe of games but now after what is going on few games will get my support. the constant fighting for more users and making games simple as possible has ruined it. EA will not get 1 more dollar of my money (until ME4)
also you have to understand sometimes you have no clue whether a game is going to be good or not cause of alot of reviewer websites giving everything a 8/9
their target is 2 million?
i am sure they made their budget calculations but most AAA games cost more than 20 million. i hope that they get to their target and that it'll be enough. looks like a game i would love to play.
@topeira Dont forget that most games are being published by middle man aka EA which takes a big chunk from those 20 mil. Using publisher like that its possible to make game fast because you can hire a very big team of programmers and etc. thats why initial costs of game like that is very high and they tend to trow hastily made game out in the shops to get those 20 mil. back. While in Star Citizen model you can have small team working slowly but with quality and low cost over a period of two years can produce much better quality game than publisher model. Game is only being started to develop, in 2 years time Im sure they will generate 20 mil. easy
1 Like @topeira The game will take 12 to 14 million dollars to make . If the game reaches 2 million crowd funding then the private investors will give their money to Roberts game company to make the game . It's not about just 2 million its about 2 out of 14 million .
@topeira The final game won't be free to play, but (at the moment) is expected to follow the Guild Wars 2 model: initial fee ($50ish) and additional cash shop for cosmetic, non-pay-to-win stuff.
I don't think they expect the $2 million to pay off the whole cost, just enough to get them started. I assume Chris Roberts has some of his own finances that he's putting towards this as well. Not sure who else is invested in it, but at least it's not EA/Activision. Plus not having publisher overhead has to help.
2 Like
As far as i'm aware he has a bunch of commercial partners/investors lined up for the game as well... These funds are in addition to any thing raised via crowd funding. :-)
1 Like I hope this announcement doesn't confuse anyone into thinking the project is already fully funded --- the funding is divided into two parts, one through their official site and the other through Kickstarter. Considering how much they've raised so far, though, I'm gonna' guess that's not going to be a problem for them.
Anywho, it's great to hear this project has been so successful. I just wish Masaaki Yuasa's "Kick Heart" anime kickstarter could get as much love and support.
@Kilikikero21 According to official site the goal earned from kickstarter will soon be added to robertsspaceindustries.com . Which means 1.3 + 0.5 = 1.8 million dollars . Almost there .
1 Like I'm excited and glad they exceeded their funding! I'm a little uneasy it's a kickstarter game, and feel it's features could be a little exaggerated for a pre-alpha game. Hate to see Chris Roberts turn out like Peter Molyneux. You need more than a big budget to make a great game but by all means I'll chip in because I WANT TO BELIEVE! And would encourage others to do the same. Supporting new Ideas whether they fail or succeed is what advances civilization.
3 Like This Kickstarting business seems to be getting out of control.
However, I do want this game, so I'm okay so far...but I'm worried.
This is one of my dream games, I might just get the OR for it if my system's up for it.
7 Like soon,activision will try to kickstart a game,they will ask for 150 millions,and if you back it up,you will receive the first DLC for only 50% price!
@enartloc Ofcourse they'll have to add those 50% to another DLC ... But its still a good deal!
Looks amazing, pledged back when announced. Keep the funding coming if anyone out there could create the proposed game, Chris Roberts can.
Man between this and Strike Suit Zero, this is an awesome time for fans of space opera games :). I guess I better go fund this badboy too!
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