Crowdfunding campaign

In October 2012, Cloud Imperium Games started a crowdfunding campaign on their own website for Star Citizen. The Original Site showcased a trailer for Star Citizen with lore and an original goal of $2,000,000 USD for development.

$577,984,094 USD later (As of May 25, 2023 ), Star Citizen is one of the largest crowdfunded projects in the world and it continues to steadily grow. Additional Stretch Goals were developed beyond the original $2 million with expanded systems, ships, mechanics, and other features. Kickstarter was used in parallel with early crowdfunding, with all current funding managed through the RSI Website Funding page

Crowdfunding Timeline

 * Original Site
 * Kickstarter
 * Continued RSI site funding

Why Crowdfunding?
Chris Roberts didn't see any benefits to a traditional publisher for an online game.

There are many benefits to crowdfunding. First of all it allows Cloud Imperium Games to break any ties with the standard triple-A developers and publishers. This means that Star Citizen has no deadlines or constrains, the stretch goals can be increased and most importantly, there are no shareholders expecting to earn a big cut of profits.

Also important, is the fact that backers expect to be given constant updates about the game's development state. Star Citizen accomplishes this through their Comm-Links and the Youtube page.

Crowdfunding Rewards

 * Stretch Goals
 * Early backer rewards

Current Funding

 * Basic ship packages
 * Ship Sales
 * Squadron 42
 * Monthly Subscription
 * Merchandise
 * Extras (Skins, Hangars, UEC, add ons)