Latest data shows that Star Citizen is on track to reach over $900,000,000 in crowdfunding, and still no sign of it entering the Beta phase. There are few games that have been in development for as long, and even fewer that have had as much money invested as Cloud Imperium Games’ spacefaring combat sim so it does leave many wondering what’s going on. It was only two years ago, after hitting the $600,000,000 mark, that the game entered a “fully loaded” alpha stage, and one year after that it went on to the $700 million mark, but still without a release date, and now in November 2025 there’s still no word of when, or if, it will ever officially launch.
For those who have played any of the current Alpha versions, it’s said the game is beautiful and quite rich with content, but that still leaves the question of when the game is done and ready to be released. Meanwhile, according to Insider Gaming’s research, funding recently peaked at $885,286,273. Furthermore, it’s reported that the developers have lost a number of key personnel responsible for server meshing and other networking responsibilities, and Cloud Imperium Games has also laid off staff at every level, which leaves more questions than answers regarding the future of the game.
Originally announced at a GDC event on October 10, 2012, Star Citizen has just celebrated its 13th anniversary in development. It has technically been playable since 2017 when it entered its first Alpha stage, which is now up to version 4.4. Those who visit its social media pages can also witness some impressive visuals for various in-game events, but meanwhile, there has been no update on the official press page since 2018. However, for those interested, the game is currently free-to-play and the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo 2955 runs from November 20 to December 3.
The galaxy’s biggest ship expo has arrived in Orison, the breathtaking city in the skies of Crusader! 🌸
— Star Citizen (@RobertsSpaceInd) November 20, 2025
Take test flights of the latest marvels, time-tested classics, and discover a few surprises along the way.
Experience it all from the pilot’s seat while Star Citizen is free… pic.twitter.com/OfCPjBzNOH
Discussion (19 replies)
Join Discussion →I regret my small portion of that titanic number. Back in 2013.
Man, I admit that game had so much promise back in the day.
Today, it's people paying absurd amounts for CAD files to fly around.
I don't pre-order, I don't contribute to crowd-funding, I don't pay for Early Access games, I don't buy games at launch or shortly after. I pay for final, finished products. And I don't usually pay until I've played that product first. A scam like Star Citizen never had a chance of roping someone like me in.
I will fully admit i bought into the hype. I've even pre ordered games I've liked the idea of sense. But I am more careful now.
I will fully admit i bought into the hype. I've even pre ordered games I've liked the idea of sense. But I am more cautious since. And I won't Kickstart anything without a solid track record.
We've all been there. I was a young man once. I used to preorder video games and even entire consoles in my youth. Some lessons are only learned the hard way.
Look, say what you will but I salute Chris Roberts for somehow tapping into this gold vein and draining it for what it's worth.
I mean, if people would throw a billion effing dollars at me for promises and ETAs you'd bet your [insert color of your own skin] ass I'd be doing the same thing.
Where the money at?
Me too in 2012, regretfully I even upgraded my pledge in 2013 to get a citizens card and a shirt, I wanted Squadron 42 so much.
But now I'm not even holding out false hope that it will ever release, I've been considering it vaporware since at least 2018.
There was Chris Roberts attached to it, so I thought it was a safe bet, I only learned about his history of not shipping games and scamming film funds later.
If I want some of the preorder content, I might preorder a game a couple days b4 launch, you can always refund if it turns out ot be crap. I did buy Factorio in early access and possibly Grim dawn, but they were already pretty far in developpement at that point and I heard good things about them.
But crowdfunding something like this, hell no
I'm starting to lose track of what games I've per-ordered. It hasn't been many, maybe TW3, a Resident Evil Game, an Metro Exodus, and those because I trusted they would launch in a good state. I was happy with the first two, and the third was okay but obviously ended up needing patches quick, so I didn't really feel burned in those instances. However, it's doubtful I'll ever do so again given the s-show that's more common these days and I can usually wait a couple of days to read launch-day reviews before buying, and depending on price might wait even longer for a discount as I did for Indiana Jones and Spider-Man 2.
WHAT????
I had no idea!
Yeah, I'm not sure how much he's still involved after CIG took over a while back. The website still refers to Roberts Industries but I didn't see anything current regarding him specifically but that doesn't mean he's not still involved in some capacity.
What do you mean took over? He is the founder and CEO of CIG.. RSI is just a made up company in game not real.
I got my Geralt statue lol