Everyone on the planet and their dog knows about GTA VI, and how the words “massive budget” doesn’t even begin to describe the game. It’s shaping up to be the most expensive video game ever made… or is it? Enter, Star Citizen — a game that has been quietly (and not so quietly) been in development for more than a decade, racking up almost a billion dollars in development costs. It’s a ludicrous number, isn’t it?
Star Citizen is the never-ending space sim that somehow exists in a surreal space between “the most ambitious game ever imagined” and “the internet’s longest-running joke.” Now, with its funding tracker frighteningly close to the $1 billion mark, the biggest question hovering above this dream project is the one everybody has: “where’s the money going?”
Star Citizen is the most ambitious early access ever
There’s no denying the game’s scale, that’s for certain
Star Citizen began in 2012 under the vision of Chris Roberts, the Wing Commander guy. His pitch, even today, is something that you’d find genuinely irresistible: the ultimate sci-fi simulation set in space, where you play in a living, breathing galaxy, seamlessly fly a ship, explore planets, walk into stations, take missions, pirate cargo, roleplay as a bartender, whatever. Star Citizen dreams of having no loading screens, and, more importantly, no cut corners, becoming a true second digital life in the stars.
Consequentially, the game’s backers believed the dream, and they believed it rather hard. Millions of dollars were poured into the game. The $100-million mark was crossed, and then it reached $500 million. Now, the exact figures keep varying from source to source, but by and large, we know that the game has crossed the $900 million milestone, making it more expensive to develop than Battlefield 6 and Cyberpunk 2077… combined.
The money isn’t going into Star Citizen alone
There’s a AAA campaign coming out next year… probably
While Cloud Imperium Games develops Star Citizen, they’re also making Squadron 42 — a single-player, campaign-driven, big-budget narrative game coming out next year. Think GTA Online to GTA V — one’s resources feed the other. We’ve got big-shot Hollywood actors like Gary Oldman, Henry Cavill, and Andry Serkis involved — the avengers of sci-fi media, and the recent gameplay showcase was nothing short of truly promising. We’ve got a grand scale, fantastic visuals, and a story that I can’t wait to experience with all my attention. In fact, Squadron 42 was a component of the original Kickstarter project from Cloud Imperium Games, and it feels almost surreal that part of the dream is now coming alive in true form, come 2026.
It’s supposed to be a spiritual successor to Wing Commander, and now, we’re almost to the finish line. Look, it’s not as if Star Citizen, the always-online multiplayer game, isn’t playable. It’s been playable since 2017, and in “early access.” They’re building the technology and the blueprint that other space sims may eventually copy. Full ship interiors. Planet-scale worlds. Player-driven economy. Seamless transitions between space and ground without boundaries. Think No Man’s Sky, but handcrafted and grounded in military-grade sci-fi physics.
Star Citizen’s reputation is the billion-dollar elephant in the room
Cloud Imperium Games’ reputation has taken hits over the years
There’s nothing quite like the online community for Star Citizen. The faithful call it the future of gaming, and they believe their words with utter conviction. Then come the skeptical, who call it, well, a scam. The truth, however, lies somewhere right in the messy middle. On the one hand, the game is playable, and it has been for a while now. It’s constantly updated, and visually, it’s breathtaking, provided your device can handle it.
On the other hand, though, the game has become synonymous with delays and feature-creep. It’s almost become a punchline at this point. Core systems are still unstable in the online game, and then there are the spaceships. One of the biggest sources of money for the game are digital concept spaceships that Cloud Imperium sells to buying customers. These are ships that don’t exist in-game yet, but will, eventually. The catch? They can cost as much as $48,000 — the price of a well-kitted Ford Explorer, by the way.
And that’s the problem. Star Citizen has raised so much of its money, but not by selling the finished dream, but rather by selling parts and pieces of the dream as it’s being built. It’s deeply controversial, even if I might be inclined to begrudgingly call it bold and creative. The roadmap is an absolute mess now, and a rollercoaster that has overstayed its welcome while the operator refuses to let you off, or slow down.
Can Star Citizen be compared to GTA VI?
The billion-dollar games club is exclusive
I’m not going to pretend that GTA VI and Star Citizen could ever be compared one-to-one. Both games are two of the biggest-budgeted titles ever, and they’ve both become cultural well before launch. Rockstar’s upcoming title has almost three decades of legacy behind it, and it’s driven the whole “we got this before GTA VI” meme all over the internet. Then, there are the “Scam Citizen” allegations and taunts that run amok all over Reddit. Are they both over-ambitious, though? I think so, certainly.
But still, GTA VI will ship. On a disc. On a fixed day. Full game. Star Citizen, on the other hand, doesn’t feel like it believes in “finished.” I like to think of GTA VI as a skyscraper. Even a city block, if you will. Star Citizen? That’s a lot more like a cathedral — constructed over generations, by believers who may never even remain to see it reach completion, if and when it ever does.
What’s next for Star Citizen?
You can never really tell with this question
Honestly, it seems like the closer Star Citizen gets to the $1 billion milestone, the less anyone seems concerned about the finish line. The players keep backing it. The game keeps growing. The devs keep expanding it because the management keeps deciding to move goalposts, and the hype keeps rolling, ebbing in and out, depending on what piece of news escapes from Cloud Imperium Games’ offices.
I certainly would like to see this dream complete, and to see Star Citizen as a fully-made, completed project that proves to be everything it promises — a testament to the fact that games can be bigger, wilder, deeper, and freer. Will it, though? The jury’s going to be out on that for a long, long time. Until then, I’ll remain the way I always have when it comes to this IP — equal parts curious and concerned.
Systems
Developer(s)
Cloud Imperium Games Corporation
Publisher(s)
Cloud Imperium Games Corporation
Engine
star engine
Multiplayer
Local Multiplayer
Early Access Release
December 23, 2017
Star Citizen is as ambitious as its players are audacious
Until it comes out, we’ll be wondering when this billion-dollar starship will finally take to the skies.
Star Citizen is a miracle and a cautionary tale wrapped into one. It represents a huge leap of faith that every player and backer of this game has taken, believing that if they keep funding the dream, someday, they will wake up inside it, perhaps.
Ultimately, though, it might end up becoming a landmark moment in gaming history, but equally likely is the possibility of it becoming a dictionary example of over-ambition and over-expansion. We won’t ever know until the credits roll, but since there’s absolutely no date in sight for that to happen, all we can do is wait and watch, wondering when this billion-dollar starship will finally take to the skies.
