Star Citizenwas going to be the sci-fi game to end all sci-fi games. An unfathomably large universe to explore, a limitless supply of fully-explorable, unique ships, and an online economy so fleshed out that it could rival any real world equivalent. However, with time, those promises seem only like distant memories, and now even the most loyalStar Citizenfans are starting to questionthe game’s seemingly endless development.
Star Citizenwas announced officially in October 2012, and had an initial projected release date of 2014. Almost ten years later,Star Citizenstill hasn’t released fully, and the game remains in Alpha, with only a handful of its promised features being present to the few backers that have spent thousands on the game over the last decade.
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The Humble Beginnings of Star Citizen
For a project that has now become so heavily criticized, it’s important to remember thatStar Citizendid have a fairly humble beginning. Cloud Imperium Games, a developer headed up by industry veteran Chris Roberts, set out to make the perfect sci-fi game, in which countless players could live out their wildest space-faring fantasies. Roberts' previous work on the genre-definingWing Commanderfranchise, and his later work on the PC classicFreelancerwould act as the basis for this new project.
Star Citizenbegan its pre-production in 2010, and officially entered full development in 2011. While Cloud Imperium Games was in charge of the production, it outsourced a great deal of work to external studios in order to produce an early build of the game that could be used to secure funding. Around this time,Double Fine had just announced a Kickstarter campaign, and had achieved a large amount of funding in record time.
A Kickstarted Universe
In October 2012,Star Citizenwas officially revealed, alongside a Kickstarter campaign that would be opened a week later. The Kickstarter page discussed the game in pretty extensive detail, boasting a long list of features that the game would allegedly have by launch.
Star Citizenwas going to have a “persistent universe,” a vast multiplayer environment that allowed players to trade, fight, and talk amongst each other, acting as a simulation of a real sci-fi galaxy. Alongside this,a singleplayer campaignnamed “Squadron 42” would also be released, featuring co-op. Upon release,Star Citizenwas going to have no pay-to-win mechanics, and no ongoing subscription model. Simply put, if people pledged money once, then they were done, and would receive the full game at launch, slated for November 2014.
Star Citizen’scrowdsourcing campaign performed extremely well, with the Kickstarter making $6.2 million after the initial pledge window closed. Cloud Imperium Games continued to accept crowdsourcing via its own website, eventually leading to the game making over $15 million in just under a year.
A Modular Development Process
WithStar Citizen’s development in full-swing, Roberts made the announcement in August 2013 that a small slice of gameplay would be released to backers. Known as the “Hangar Module,” this early build of the game allowed players to explore a small hangar area, and climb aboardsome of the game’s ships. It wasn’t much, but it was a start, and it was enough to keep backers happy, at least for now.
Star Citizenwould continue this type of modular release schedule, with June 2014 marking the release of the “Arena Commander” mode, after being delayed six months from its initial projected window. This was the first real taste of proper gameplay that backers would receive, with somerudimentary ship combatand racing modes being available to play. While some lucky backers got the opportunity to play these modes with other real players, most could only play against AI. Over the year, the Arena Commander module would receive multiple updates, adding a healthy supply of new content to the game.
Announced in 2014, projected for release in 2015, and finally dropping in 2016, “Star Marine” wasStar Citizen’s next module. Plagued with development issues from external development teams, Cloud Imperium Games took it upon itself to refine this module to a solid standard. Star Marine acts as the game’s ground combat system, usinga first-person shooter perspective. Although the module was planned to include multiple game modes and unique takes on other shooter mechanics and conventions, like zero gravity matches, at release, it was essentially just another first-person multiplayer shooter, with only two maps and two modes.
The module the vast majority of fans were most looking forward to, “Persistent Universe,” would finally release in December 2015. This mode combined the FPS mechanics of Star Marine, the environments of the Hangar Module, and the ship combat and flight controls of Arena Commander, packaging it all together to make the first real experience thatresembled theStar Citizenthat was first promised. Players can freely explore four planets, can embark on their journey through space, choose a specific career path, and interact with other players.
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Disillusioned Backers and Lawsuits
Although the Persistent Universe module is being constantly updated, and does seem to be theStar Citizenthat backers wanted, the 10-year development of the game has been too long for many. Starting in 2015, around a quarter ofStar Citizen’s player baseexpressed interest in receiving a refundfor the money they pledged, claiming that the game had not delivered on its promise, and citing the project’s terms of service, which allowed them to receive a refund if the product had not been released in 18 months.
Many backers were able to claim a refund, thoughCloud Imperium Games quickly changed the terms of service, stating that a refund would only be given now if the developers abandoned the project. This led to a few lawsuits from backers who were in the process of receiving a refund, and who now had to fight their case on legal grounds.
In 2017,Crytek filed a lawsuit against Cloud Imperium Games, claiming that it was using, and modifying, the CryEngine without permission. After three years of legal back-and-forth, Crytek dropped the lawsuit in January 2020, upon receiving email evidence from Cloud Imperium that it had lawfully been using the engine after purchasing Amazon Lumberyard, which also gave the rights to use CryEngine.
Where Is Star Citizen Now?
Star Citizenis about to reach its 10th year in development, and fans are more disillusioned than ever. While Cloud Imperium Games is updating the Persistent Universe module, updates are inconsistent, and are rarely discussed prior to release. Those who have continued to give money to the game, bybuying new ships and cosmetics, are wondering if the game will ever truly release in the way they had originally envisioned.
In 2012, a free-roam space-faring simulator sounded unbelievable, but in 2022, there’s plenty of experiences that are come very close toStar Citizen’s initial promises.Elite Dangerousoffers a vast universe, and has much of the same multiplayer features thatStar Citizenwas going to have, and for all its faults,No Man’s Skyhas redeemed itselfin the eyes of many, now offering a fully-fledged sci-fi experience.
With the recent announcement thatStar Citizenis going to be pairing back its roadmap, removing features that it had previously promised, it seems as thoughStar Citizen’s full release is still a ways off. And witha statement from Cloud Imperiumseemingly blaming the fans for setting their hopes too high, and citing them as a “distraction,” and a reason why the game hasn’t released yet,Star Citizenmay lose more fans that it gains.
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