The latest ’Letter from the Chairman’ from Cloud Imperium’s Chris Roberts announces the latest record-breaking milestone of $63 million for space sim Star Citizen. It’s thanks to the recent anniversary sales.
Roberts stresses ”you don’t need anything beyond” a basic starter pack to get in Star Citizen early, but the studio is grateful to those still contributing so they can invest in ”bigger or additional ships”.
”We’ve always stressed that you don’t need anything beyond a basic starter ship to be able to earn anything or go anywhere in the Star Citizen universe, but we acknowledge that the support the community gives by investing in bigger or additional ships allows Star Citizen to deliver a deeper, richer experience much sooner than we could otherwise,” wrote Chris Roberts.
It’s not just more ships but also more technology that can be investigated for Star Citizen. ”…your continued support is allowing us to make some smart investments in the world wide team and technology that will safeguard the future of the game.”
He also doesn’t take milestones for granted: ”I’ve had a number of backers ask me why I don’t ‘stock pile’ letters and have them ready to go immediately… especially during an event like this. My answer is that I don’t feel right assuming things like that when it comes to backers providing the project with millions of dollars! The letters may take a few extra days now, but they’re always from the heart.”
This eye-watering $63 million mark has ‘unlocked’ the MISC Reliant, which is now a third starter ship. At $62 million the Genesis-class Starliner was secured which offers citizens the chance to pilot a transport vessel. What does CIG plan for $64 million?
”Pets – We have repair bots, we have fish… but we haven’t implemented a traditional pet system in Star Citizen yet. At $64 million, that changes. From Jones the Cat in Alien to the Battlestar Galactica’s Daggit, pets have a place onboard starships… and we want to give you that option in Star Citizen.”
”Expect traditional terrestrial options, plus anything exotic we can dream up in the Star Citizen universe! (Those Torshu Grey crabs that keep escaping are just the start.) This stretch goal is in honor of Paddington, Strike Dog of the UEES Paul Steed. In one of our first videos Paddington helped us get to $4 million back in the initial campaign, and sadly passed away recently.”
Should things keep going then at $65 million they’d seriously look into ”a major feature” the studio could include, and one that’s been on the communities lips - modular ships.
”I can’t say it enough: thank you. I often finding myself sitting down to play Arena Commander and just admiring what we’ve made together. Sure, we could have done this behind closed doors… but it wouldn’t have had the same heart and soul, and it wouldn’t be coming together in the same way. Arena Commander is a microcosm of Star Citizen: your backing made it possible, your feedback is making it work the way we imagined together… and your belief in what we’re doing here (and patience with real software development!) is going to push us to continuously iterate and improve,” continued Roberts.
”As we deliver more aspects of Star Citizen, from first person combat, to planetside exploration to a gripping single player narrative story to planets and star systems you can fly between, I think it will dawn on all of us just how groundbreaking and unprecedented the journey that we are all taking together is. Nothing of this scope has ever been attempted, and never in this fashion.”
Check out the official Star Citizen website for more.