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2013 · Cloud Imperium Games · Adventure · First-person shooter

Star Citizen

Star Citizen is a sandbox open-world MMO "SpaceSim" by Cloud Imperium Games. Explore the 'verse, fight, trade, and more when you play Star Citizen!

Released: 30 August 2013
Platforms: Windows
Genres: Adventure First-person shooter Flight simulation Indie MMO MMORPG Role-playing Science Shooter Simulation Space trading and combat
Developers: Cloud Imperium Games
Publishers: Cloud Imperium Games
Modes: Co-op Multiplayer
Perspective: First person Third person Virtual Reality
Themes: Action Science fiction Survival Sandbox Open world Warfare
Engine: Amazon Lumberyard, Star Engine
Country: United Kingdom United States Germany
Languages: English
Time to beat: 99999hcompletionist
Directors: Chris Roberts
Composers: Pedro Macedo Camacho, Geoff Zanelli

About

Star Citizen is an online space trading and combat simulation game under development by Cloud Imperium Games and published by Roberts Space Industries for Windows. An extended retry of unrealized plans for Freelancer (2003), Star Citizen is led by director Chris Roberts. The game was announced in 2012 and was followed by a Kickstarter campaign which drew over US$2 million. After more than a decade in development, no projected date for the end of early access in Star Citizen has been announced.

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 "Persistent Universe" module was made available for testing to pre-purchasers in 2015 with Star Citizen released in early access in 2017. It continues to receive updates. Star Citizen has garnered criticism during its long production process, both for the lack of a clear date for the end of early access and for the challenges backers have faced in getting a refund after abandoning the project. The launch of the game was originally anticipated for 2014, but has been repeatedly delayed.

›Story

The hum of the fusion drive reverberates through the ship's hull. It reminds you that you should probably replace it soon. A quick check on the MobiGlas says there's an Aegis showroom on the planet you're heading to. Couldn't hurt to see what they got, right?

With the Credits you make delivering this cargo, you should be able to buy your ship a little treat. Besides, she's your bread and butter. You roll on your side and look out the window at the vast yawning space outside. A distant planet silently orbits a dying sun.

Keywords

aliens
space simulation
futuristic warfare
military
spaceship
space battle
crowdfunding - kickstarter
crowdfunding
user generated content
platform exclusive
crowd funded
gamescom 2013

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Star Citizen combines features from space simulator, first-person shooter, and massively multiplayer online genres in a larger multiplayer 'persistent universe', as well as a combined dogfighting mod/first-person shooter combat sim called 'Arena Commander'.

The Persistent Universe is the main, open-world, and massively multiplayer game mode of Star Citizen. Players can freely navigate and explore the surfaces of over a dozen planets and moons.

Development

Star Citizen is under development by Cloud Imperium Games, a studio founded by Chris Roberts, Sandi Roberts, and Ortwin Freyermuth in 2012. While working at Origin Systems from 1990 to 1996, Roberts became known for his groundbreaking Wing Commander franchise. After the completion of Starlancer in 1999 by Roberts' studio Digital Anvil, lengthy delays in the production of extensive plans for the game Freelancer led to the company's acquisition by Microsoft and Roberts' exit from the project. Completed under a new lead and numerous staff replacements, the finished game was well received, but criticized for lacking the extensive features Roberts had planned. Roberts has since claimed that Star Citizen is a spiritual successor to both Wing Commander and Freelancer.

Pre-production of Star Citizen began in 2010 with production starting in 2011 using CryEngine 3. Several contractors and outsourced development companies such as CGBot, Rmory, VoidAlpha and Behaviour Interactive were hired to build an early prototype of the game and concept art. The goal of the prototype was to gain outside investment, but following the success for the Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter campaign, Roberts decided to crowdfund the game instead. After hiring Ortwin Freyermuth, Ben Lesnick, and David Swofford, Cloud Imperium Games was formed with the intention of building the initial campaign.

Reception

In a 2016 Polygon opinion article, Charlie Hall compared Star Citizen to No Man's Sky and Elite: Dangerous, writing that "Last time I checked, Star Citizen writ large was a hope wrapped inside a dream buried inside a few layers of controversy", while stating that each game has something different to offer within the space sim genre. PC Gamer writer Luke Winkie also compared Star Citizen to No Man's Sky, describing Star Citizen as "the other super ambitious, controversial space sim on the horizon", and indicating that fans of the genre, disappointed in No Man's Sky were turning to the as-yet-unfinished Star Citizen, while sometimes expressing concerns should the latter fail to deliver.

The game's developers have attracted criticism for continuing to raise funds enthusiastically while failing to meet project deadlines, as well as doubts about technical feasibility and the ability of the developers to finish the game.