Star Citizen crowdfunding passes $1 billion after more than a decade

Star Citizen has now raised more than $1 billion in crowdfunding, according to the game’s public funding tracker. At the time of the milestone, total funding sat at $1,004,888,971. The original Kickstarter campaign launched over 13 years ago in April 2013.

That makes Cloud Imperium Games’ long-running space sim one of the most expensive crowdfunded projects ever, and it got there through a mix of its original Kickstarter campaign and years of continued backing during alpha. A big part of that has been ship sales, which have remained a major source of funding throughout development.

Star Citizen is still in alpha, despite more than a decade of fundraising and development. Its single-player companion game, Squadron 42, has also been in the works for years, though this latest milestone is specifically tied to Star Citizen’s public crowdfunding total.

The number stands out partly because of how long the project has been running. Star Citizen first drew attention through crowdfunding, then kept bringing in money well beyond its initial campaign through direct purchases and pledges on its official site. Hitting the billion-dollar mark doesn’t change the game’s status, but it does underline just how unusual the project still is in both scale and funding.