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Star Citizen upgrade backlash: Why game developers have pushed controversial feature
Star Citizen upgrade backlash: Why game developers have pushed controversial feature

Hindustan Times

time20-05-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Hindustan Times

Star Citizen upgrade backlash: Why game developers have pushed controversial feature

Star Citizen is changing a recent decision after receiving criticism from fans. The game's developer, Cloud Imperium Games, has announced that its new Flight Blade ship parts will be made available to all players in June 2025. These components were first released on 15 May 2025, but only through the game's Pledge Store. This led to complaints from players who felt the move was unfair and gave paying users an advantage. Also Read: World's top video game creator has a secret USB—What's inside will blow your mind The Flight Blades, introduced in the latest update, are a new type of ship part. They let players boost either a ship's speed or control, but not both. While players didn't mind the parts themselves, many were unhappy that they could only be bought with real money—costing between $15 and $35 depending on the ship. They could not be bought with in-game currency, which upset many in the community. To calm players, the developers have now confirmed that the Flight Blades will be added to the in-game store in the June update. In the past, extra donations through the Pledge Store gave early access to some game features. However, after hearing player feedback, Cloud Imperium has decided that smaller items like Flight Blades should be made available to everyone at the same time. The studio also said 2025 will be an important year for Star Citizen. Despite staff layoffs at the end of last year, the developer plans to release 11 updates in 2025, much more than the usual four. Admitting the release of the Flight Blades was rushed, the team said: 'In moving that fast, we missed a step.' Star Citizen has always been funded through crowdfunding and recently passed $800 million in total donations. The original goal was to finish the game with just $20 million. Although there is still no confirmed release date for the full game, the recent increase in development work has given some fans hope.

Star Citizen Has Now Earned CIG Over $800 Million
Star Citizen Has Now Earned CIG Over $800 Million

Yahoo

time09-04-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Yahoo

Star Citizen Has Now Earned CIG Over $800 Million

Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) has hoovered up another $100 million from its extremely patient fanbase, breaching the $800 million milestone. This continues its streak of massive funding boosts in recent years, somehow accelerating even after 12 years of not delivering any of the complete game projects it promised. If Star Citizen continues to rake in an average of around $300,000 a day, it's on track to become the first official billion-dollar game project ever. Star Citizen was a once wildly ambitious space combat and exploration game developed by famed Wind Commander creator Chris Roberts. His company, Cloud Imperium Games, held a massively successful Kickstarter and crowd-funding campaign in 2012, raking in a few million dollars and promising a full game release by 2014. It went on to mostly release roadmaps. To date, Star Citizen is in Early Access at version Alpha 4.1.1, while the single-player Squadron 42 is allegedly on track to launch in 2026. While the story surrounding Star Citizen in its early days was its incredible visuals and expansive scope, that's evolved over the years to focus more on its bizarre levels of funding. CIG stopped publishing crowd-funding stretch goals for the project years ago at $65 million, but it has had no trouble raking in much, much more than that—and indeed, almost more than any other gaming project ever. At over $800 million, Star Citizen is a more expensive game than anything outside of the rumored cost of GTA 6. It's double the cost of some of the most expensive movies ever made. And 11 years on from the original promised launch date, there's still not even a finished game to show for it. If Star Citizen does anything well, it's good hype trailers. There are long and detailed breakdowns of what's gone wrong at CIG over the years that have led to this point, but none of it appears to have slowed the money-earning space train. The funding total reached $700 million in July 2024, so it's still accelerating—despite the game having milked hundreds of millions from its fanbase already. It's still selling ships for hundreds of dollars a piece, or you can even buy Star Citizen accounts with high-end hardware outright for thousands of dollars on eBay. Although the outside view of Star Citizen isn't rosy, and the game and its developers deal with their fair share of criticism and derision, the game still maintains a dedicated fan base, and clearly they're still willing to spend. If you've put money into Star Citizen and want to get it back out, you might find some help on the Starcitizen_refunds subreddit.

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