Nearly 14 years ago, industry veteran Chris Roberts launched the Kickstarter campaign for Star Citizen, promising an incredibly ambitious spiritual successor to Wing Commander and Freelancer in a genre thought to be dying or, at the very least, niche. The campaign immediately resonated with fans, gathering over $2.1 million in pledges from nearly 35,000 backers, but that was merely the beginning.
Shortly after the end of the Kickstarter campaign, Roberts continued to allow fans to back the game via the official Star Citizen website. The rest, as they say, is history; through massive hype and clever marketing strategies, developer Cloud Imperium Games continued to sell access to the game and in-game ships, going well beyond any crowdfunded game in history.
Slowly but steadily, the yearly contributions from Star Citizen fans rose, with a sharp increase happening after the COVID pandemic. A few months ago, the tally broke through $900 million and just yesterday it surpassed the incredible milestone of $1 billion, pledged by over six and a half million fans, which means a staggering $153 average contribution per user.
| Year | Annual Raised | Cumulative Total |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | ~$6.3M | ~$6.3M |
| 2013 | ~$6.2M | ~$12.5M |
| 2014 | ~$9M | ~$21.5M |
| 2015 | ~$17M | ~$38.5M |
| 2016 | ~$19M | ~$57.5M |
| 2017 | ~$27M | ~$84.5M |
| 2018 | ~$46M | ~$130.5M |
| 2019 | ~$47.5M | ~$178M |
| 2020 | ~$77.7M | ~$255.7M |
| 2021 | ~$85.9M | ~$341.6M |
| 2022 | ~$110M | ~$451.6M |
| 2023 | ~$100M | ~$551.6M |
| 2024 | ~$118M | ~$669.6M |
| 2025 | >$230M | >$900M |
During the first few years, Star Citizen was criticized for being "vaporware" and potentially a scam, but Cloud Imperium Games largely put that kind of talk to rest with its steady updates. The last one, Alpha 4.8, launched earlier this month with a full economy and persistence reset and a new six-phase squad assault called Tactical Strike Group, which sends players to a fortified Nyx asteroid base, with roles split between exterior ship combat, trench-run attacks, and an FPS boarding section. The mission also adds a strong set-piece element in the form of the Tranquility Idris, which acts as the team’s mobile rearm, repair, and refuel hub during the assault.
The phase structure is varied and clearly designed for coordination:
Refueling is also now a proper gameplay loop in Star Citizen, not just a utility action. Alpha 4.8 added refueling contracts, refueling beacons for stranded players, and a dedicated operator mode for refuel ships, similar to salvage or mining. It also changes the actual transfer process, making it faster and more structured, with new fuel pods, nozzles, UI changes, and automated fuel flow once a purchase is confirmed.
There's still no release date for version 1.0, by the way. Last year, Chris Roberts said the launch could happen in 2027 or 2028, while 2026 is supposedly the year of Squadron 42, the single player campaign featuring an all-star ensemble cast of actors. However, in an interview published earlier this month on This Week in Videogames, Roberts couldn't guarantee it because of GTA 6. Their goal is to launch Squadron 42 before Rockstar's behemoth, but if they can't, it might still be delayed.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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