Are they funding IRL space missions or is this for a video game?
Why not both? :)
Maybe CR is secretly developing his own space program to escape to space when backers get upset enough at the lack of progress?
Someone else mentioned post launch funding. That part is nebulous and worrying. Most people assume ship paints, armour cosmetics and the like will be on sale past release of Star Citizen. But I honestly would not be surprised if there is still a yearly IAE event (for example) where they sell ships. It’s worth repeating that the ships are purchasable in game too though.
Also, assuming we ever get Squadron 42, there are 2 sequels not yet sold and not yet on the roadmap to be developed (should be less painful once the first one is out). Assuming again that this happens, this is another big part of the revenue model: sequels to the single player game.
I mean, that’s the model for so many things now anyway I can’t imagine it would even raise eyebrows.
I think Roberts really wanted to create the ultimate open world space game/experience. Was able to pull in more money than he expected and he got caught up in believing he could create some masterpiece game to beat all games.
And, as we’ve seen documented from the past, he sucks as a project director, he got so much money he could have multiple teams working on multiple things with no coordination or needed overall project management. The more time passed, the more of a mess it became. But a HUGE mess. A mess beyond fixing.
So now he realizes, this is out of control. We’re never going to be able to release a game, much less a $400 MM game. There’s no way out. But people seem content to let us just keep “doing stuff” and releasing pieces here and there and making grand statements. I believe that he knows there’s no way to actually deliver a game that will come close to meeting the desired goals and expectations. So the only choices are to declare failure and shut everything down, or keep doing what they are doing for decades and hope for a miracle. He has no graceful out here.
It’s definitely possible, but I personally think that from the very start Roberts and company had a very improv style of scope. Every question about if something was in the game was yes and better than any other game has ever done it. That’s never stopped.
$400M is a lot of money for a video game but money doesn’t fix broken projects. You can’t just spend your way out of giant holes. The next big thing is always two years away and if it comes it’s just a placeholder.
They only thing that is ever on schedule is ship sales.
^this
It’s not $400M though. It’s now $403M + around $100M they received from private investors. And they’ve been running in the Red every single year - if you can believe that.
Meanwhile, over there…
Come on, really? For only one example, CIG doesn’t attempt to harass detractors into silence. That’s pretty meaningful.
Yep, this is 100% where I think the “game” is now.
CIG has never had two goons push my father-in-law out of their Clearwater headquarters by the arms because he sauntered in to ask for pamphlets, while guys with rifles stood on the roof. Yet.
If they open an office in Clearwater I will eat a shippeg*.
(*ship jpeg)
And then starting wondering what goes on in that compound.
Why would he ever want an out? Dude’s cleared an easy 8 digits on this so far.
We’re well past the moral hazard line on this project. If you’re Chris Roberts, what possible incentive do you have to actually finish Star Citizen? All that happens then is bad reviews and having to live with the consequences of your decisions. Until then, enough people are clearly willing to fund infinite development, so why not keep developing forever?
At this point I can’t believe there are any victims in this. If you’re putting money in now it’s on you to know the history and what you’re getting into.
Hmm. So if we get to 2025, and the whole thing is still kinda alpha sandbox, the backers still won’t revolt? 2030?
Of course, I say that, but the “savior coming before this generation passes away” has worked for 20 centuries.
One of the ways that CIG has adapted is that they literally just no longer give dates for anything. When will Squadron 42 be out? No date. Ability to travel to a second solar system? No date. Capital ships? No date. Etc.
They have removed any specific trigger points for backers to draw a line on.
It’s practically 2025 already.
That sounds like a teaser for a Derpspace announcement…
Exactly. And frankly, if backers were going to revolt based on not meeting reasonable milestone dates, it would’ve happened by now anyway.
“Progress is being made” (as opposed to what? going backwards?) and “something like this has never been done before” are the two clarion calls the true believers have largely settled on. The latter is especially pernicious, because it essentially means all bets are off - because this has never been done before, there can effectively be no expectations on the part of backers. Still in alpha in 2031? He’s doing something that has never been done before! Stop being a hater and look at all of the PROGRESS that has been made.
And of course, who knows what advancements will be made in gaming tech in the next 5-10 years - and whether those advancements will cause CR to dial back development in order to try and implement them in his dream game. No expense spared in his pursuit of perfection after all, as his fans like to remind everyone.
I can figure out how this goose started laying golden eggs to begin with, but I can’t figure out who is still giving them money… is it the same group of people continually funding them, or are they actually attracting new money at this rate? Either way, they are certainly doing something that’s never been done before, in a P.T. Barnum sort of way.
It’s a mix. Lots of new money coming in, as well as old money being added through ship upgrades and new ship purchases. There has been a bit of an exodus from Elite in the past few months with a fair amount of streamers and players joining friends now in SC to give it a try.
And twitch streamers usually get other prospective players intrigued. Though many are at pain of pointing out the pains of playing an alpha.
But brand new player posts are a regular occurrence on Reddit and in the org I joined.
As for people here claiming to know what SC backers think and how they would react to X or Y, it’s kind of rubbish. But I wouldn’t claim to be able to represent them either. We are talking about a large number of gamers with different tastes and aspirations, not just one mindless brainwashed hivemind, whatever posters here somewhat insultingly insinuate.
I e come super close to buying one of the beginner ships and trying it out. I mean it’s CIG so the entry point is $45 I think. Not the $20 I could see being justified at this point. But still, if I didn’t have a crap ton of other things to play and had the stamina to try and learn how to fly in this thing I’d prob join to play around. Knowing full well I’ll prob never see anything close to ‘finished’.