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Star Citizen Updates: Why Hasn't The Game Released Yet?
Is Star Citizen still going to be released? That seems to be the case, but the situation surrounding the game isn't that simple. Cloud Imperium Games, the developer of Star Citizen, was founded to produce the game by Director Chris Roberts. The crowdfunded campaign for the game is the most successful in entertainment history.
One reason why so many people invested in the game is for Chris Roberts, the renowned creator of Wing Commander. Star Citizen initially aimed to be a space-flight simulator with dogfighting and trading across the galaxy. Fans of Wing Commander imagined that Star Citizen would be its spiritual successor, with updated graphics and the potential for VR. In 2012, the game immediately past its first fundraising goal. In turn, Cloud Imperium Games was forced to adjust the scale of the game to match the excessive amounts of investment money coming in. Although originally planned as a game with a maximum budget of four million dollars (the previous record for crowdfunding), Star Citizen has climbed to over 230 million dollars.
For all the considerable fundraising achievements Star Citizen has hit, the game has also been plagued by mishandled money and lack of focus. To be fair, Cloud Imperium is being transparent with their investors and player base. In their "Star Citizen Monthly Report: October 2019" Cloud Imperium made clear exactly what the development team has been working on. The October updates included small additions like new props and weapon art. As well as major improvements like better AI and more consistent lighting.
Later this month, Cloud Imperium Games will be hosting CitizenCon 2949 in Manchester, England. This marks the seventh community convention that Cloud Imperium has hosted. In the past, the developer announced timeline updates for the game through community forums at its conventions. In addition to the ambitious flight simulator mode, there will also be a single player addition to Star Citizen called Squadron 42. The single player campaign has grown into a separate entity with a different investment package. As of today, you can pledge 45$ towards development of Squadron 42.
It's clear that Cloud Imperium Games is in over their heads with the development of Star Citizen. The game was initially planned for a 2014 release, six years later it seems its no closer now than it was then. It's hard to blame the developer as they never could've imagined the games scope would be as large as it has turned out to be. It's good that they are communicating with their player base, both online and at conventions. There's no lack of money with Star Citizen, nor lack of obvious talent.
Star Citizen is in Alpha now for PC.
