Star Citizen is an in-development multiplayer, space trading and combat simulation game. The game is being developed and published by Cloud Imperium Games for Microsoft Windows. An extended retry of unrealized plans for Freelancer, Star Citizen is being led by director Chris Roberts. The game was announced via a private crowdfunding page in September 2012, and was later joined on October 18, 2012 by a successful Kickstarter campaign which drew in over US$2 million. Pre-production of the game began in 2010, with production starting in 2011.
Star Citizen has become highly criticized during its long production process, both for the fact that there is still no clear release date and for the challenges backers who have abandoned the project have faced in receiving a refund. The launch of the game was originally anticipated for 2014, but was repeatedly delayed. In 2013, Cloud Imperium Games began releasing parts of the game, known as "modules", to provide players with the opportunity to experience gameplay features prior to release. The latest of these modules, known as the "Persistent Universe", was made available for testing to pre-purchasers in 2015 and continues to receive updates. After more than a decade in development, no projected date for the commercial release of Star Citizen is currently given.
After the initial Kickstarter ended, Cloud Imperium Games continued to raise funds through the sale of ships and other in-game content, and is now noted for being the highest-funded crowdfunded video game and one of the highest-funded crowdfunding projects overall, having raised over US$500 million as of September 2022. Such methods of generating crowdfunded revenue have however led to criticisms and legal issues surrounding the project. In addition to crowdfunding, marketing is now also funded through external investment, having received US$63.25 million as of March 2020.
Squadron 42, a single-player game set in the same universe, was initially announced in the Kickstarter as an included campaign in Star Citizen, but is now intended to be a standalone product.
Gameplay
Star Citizen combines features from space simulator, first person shooter, and massively multiplayer online genres across its four playable modes. These modes, called modules, provide different player experiences from one another. Three of the modules, Hangar, Arena Commander, and Star Marine, provide examples of gameplay features that appears in the Persistent Universe module, but also have their own mechanics.
Hangar module
In the Hangar Module, players can explore or modify their purchased ships that have been publicly released and interact with the ship's systems, though no flying options are available. Also included are decorations and flair that can be placed and arranged within the hangar. As of Star Citizen Alpha patch 3.13.1a (May 19th 2021), the Hangar Module is currently disabled due to ongoing issues with no time frame for when it will return.
Arena Commander
Arena Commander is an in-fiction space combat simulator allowing players to fly ships in various game types against other players or AI opponents. In the Free Flight game type, players can pilot their ship without threat of combat encounters, while in Vanduul Swarm up to 4 players fight waves of computer controlled enemies. Capture the Core is a game type inspired by classic capture the flag rules, where a team must capture the opposing team's core and deposit it on their side. A racing game type, set on a specifically designed map with three courses, allows players to fly through checkpoints and attempt to beat each other's time. Game types like Battle Royale and Team place players in direct opposition of one another, gaining points for destroying enemy ships. A final game type, called Pirate Swarm, is a horde based game type similar to Vanduul Swarm but with different enemy types.
G-force effects on the pilot were introduced in Arena Commander, which could cause the player character to black out if they moved in a way that applied substantial g-forces on the ship. Equipment to customize ships used in Arena Commander can be rented to further allow for modification of player ship combat ability. While a multi-crew component of Arena Commander was announced at a 2015 Star Citizen conference, it has yet to be implemented in the game.
Star Marine
Star Marine is an in-fiction ground combat simulator, allowing players to fight each other with conventional weaponry. Two maps were made available on release, along with two game types: Elimination and Last Stand.