Star Citizen Reaches $250 Million Raised Through Crowdfunding

Space-faring life simulation, Star Citizen, often labelled 'the most ambitious game ever', is continuing its fundraising efforts to great success —even after the $2.1 million received in 2012's initial Kickstarter campaign. As of yesterday, Cloud Imperium Games hit the whopping $250 Million mark across its combined crowdfunding campaigns.

Summarising what Star Citizen intends to achieve is no easy task. With a persistent, massively multiplayer universe, the game —if successful— will let players choose their space-faring role and live out their Sci-Fi fantasies in a dynamic, open universe. Fighting, exploring, mining, industrialising, racing or even staying rooted to a single planet are all gameplay styles accommodated by the range of available ships to purchase and customise; more than practically any game out there, Star Citizen will be what players make of it.

Multiple studios fall under the banner of Cloud Imperium Games, each working on a different aspect of Star Citizen to ensure every module is given significant focus. Despite its unclear release window, the game is available to play in a limited state for those who helped fund it, with a growing selection of planets and gameplay features to experience. Recent updates have seen developments to the universe's law and order system and planetary mining mechanics, as well as new ships, playable characters and a new planet.

Many have expressed scepticism towards the project, with its growing scope and numerous subsequent delays painting a worrying picture for its ultimate fate. An entirely separate single-player campaign with an all-star cast, Squadron 42, is being fundraised alongside the main MMO —as if Star Citizen wasn't already enough to handle.

It's worth noting that although Star Citizen is currently only playable for backers, the game is currently running a 'free fly' event until 5th December. If you're interested, click here to sign up.