Star Citizen

Star Citizen is a space simulation developed by Cloud Imperium Games and led by Chris Roberts, the creator of Wing Commander and Freelancer. The project began through Kickstarter in 2012, after an initial crowdfunding goal of two million dollars was exceeded dramatically. Funding has continued through direct sales of game packages and ships, making Star Citizen one of the most heavily crowdfunded video games ever.

The game is set in the 30th century, primarily within the United Empire of Earth, commonly abbreviated UEE. Players can serve as traders, miners, salvagers, haulers, bounty hunters, mercenaries, security contractors, or combat pilots, rather than following a single campaign. Its persistent universe is intended to combine first-person shooting, ship operation, planetary exploration, and a player-driven economy. The playable area includes locations such as the gas giant Crusader, the city planet ArcCorp, the industrial planet Hurston, and the frozen planet MicroTech.

Star Citizen’s fiction includes a long human history, including the Messer dynasty, which ruled the UEE as authoritarian Imperators before being removed. The present setting also includes alien civilizations, especially the Xi’an and the Vanduul. The Vanduul are associated with repeated attacks and the controversial destruction of the human colony at Orion. Players encounter this background through in-game lore, missions, news, and organizations such as the advocacy group Citizens for Peace and Unity.

Development is divided between a persistent online universe and Squadron 42, a separate single-player campaign starring Mark Hamill as Lieutenant Commander Steve “Old Man” Colton, with actors including Gillian Anderson, Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, and John Rhys-Davies. Squadron 42 was announced alongside the original crowdfunding campaign and has been developed as a cinematic military adventure tied to Star Citizen’s universe. The online project entered public testing through modules such as Arena Commander, which introduced dogfighting, and Star Marine, which added ground combat. The current alpha remains under active development, with features delivered incrementally through numbered patches rather than a conventional completed release.

Cloud Imperium operates studios in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada, publishing updates through its Roadmap and monthly reports. Star Citizen has attracted scrutiny for its long production and monetization model, especially sales of virtual spacecraft before launch. Its alpha supports flyable ships, player crews, cargo hauling, mining, medical gameplay, salvage, and ship-to-ship combat. The promise is a seamless sandbox where players can walk from a hangar to a cockpit, launch into space, and share one world.