Star Citizen is one of the few times when a ghost of gaming’s past has come out with a new idea where instead of groaning at what will inevitably be someone trying to reclaim their glory years and pandering to fans, I felt kind of excited that this would be the next logical evolution in space simulation games. Science Fiction will always be a hot-seller when it comes to gaming, simply because they go together hand-in-hand so well. The idea of using your technology to immerse yourself in a futuristic fantasy world that you can play out is one of the most logical things that I can think of. Chris Roberts is of course best known for the Wing Commander series of games, which he created and then had a hand in the film adaptation, and while he had produced other games after he left Wing Commander behind, nothing was able to quite capture the hearts and minds of gamers like Wing Commander could.
His newest project, Star Citizen, is his attempt to win back those fans and show them that he was not a one trick pony and that he is still looking to push the boundaries of PC games, more specifically space simulation PC games. He launched two crowdfunding campaigns to help raise money for the production of Star Citizen, a Kickstarter with a $500,000 goal and payments through his own website to raise a more lofty $2 million. As of the time of this article was written, the Kickstarter has raised $642,000 and through his website he has raised $1.49 million, respectively, bringing his total well over $2 million with 24 days left on the Kickstarter and 14 left on his website.
I think it is safe to say that Mr. Roberts will have the capital that he needs to make Star Citizen the game that he wants it to be and to do it how he did it in the 90’s; as his own vision not tarnished by outside forces.
