The big picture: Star Citizen and its single-player component, Squadron 42, have faced repeated delays since Cloud Imperium Games first announced the ambitious space sandbox project nearly 13 years ago. Despite ongoing skepticism and accusations that the company’s crowdfunding campaign is a scam, recent years have marked its most financially successful period. While many continue to question whether the games will ever reach version 1.0, others have started to place bets on whether Cloud Imperium will surpass $1 billion in funding first.

Crowdfunding for Star Citizen currently stands at just over $801 million. Although the space MMO has been in development for more than a decade with no official release date, Cloud Imperium Games raised over $100 million in the last year alone.

Wing Commander series creator Chris Roberts launched the crowdfunding campaign in 2012 with the goal of creating a spiritual successor to the iconic sci-fi franchise. Star Citizen aims to blend spaceflight simulation with first-person shooter gameplay, enabling hundreds of players to interact seamlessly across different planets and while flying through space.

Although still in its alpha phase after so many years, the game is playable and receives frequent updates. Backers can download the alpha client, and the game occasionally hosts free-to-play events. While many features are still in active development and bugs remain common, a dedicated community continues to explore and test each new release.

The alpha reached version 4.0 in December, introducing a new solar system with multiple explorable planets and debuting Star Citizen’s much-anticipated server meshing feature. This system allows multiple servers to work together, letting players travel between different areas – stations, cities, and planets – without loading screens.

Up to 500 players can currently interact within a single server group. In recent months, Cloud Imperium has also added new ships, weapons, environments, AI behaviors, and numerous gameplay tweaks.

For the eventual full release, the company promises a main storyline, base building, crafting systems, a player-driven economy, and various social features. The space simulation will also expand to include more planets, a deeper persistent universe, life support mechanics, radiation hazards, ship engineering, taxes, insurance systems, and even an in-game sports league.

The single-player story mode, Squadron 42, has likewise seen its share of delays. Last year, the company released an hour-long gameplay showcase of the cinematic space adventure, featuring performances by Gillian Anderson, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, and Mark Strong. Promising 30 to 40 hours of narrative-driven gameplay, Roberts has stated that Squadron 42 is now expected to be ready by 2026.

Despite the project’s lengthy development cycle and unprecedented budget, funding has accelerated significantly since 2020. Cloud Imperium raised more than $100 million in each of the past three years, with its most successful months – such as May 2023 and November 2024 – bringing in over $20 million each.