Star Citizen has raised an insane $100 million in crowdfunding

When you decide to back a crowdfunding project, you’re running the risk of having your money wasted when the project ends up failing, and though it may be reassuring to see other people pouring millions of dollars into a project, history has proven time and time again that even the most well-funded projects can fail. Speaking of well-funded projects, that super ambitious game known as Star Citizen has now raised more than $100 million in funding, which has prompted the usual celebration from excited gamers, alongside the criticism of skeptics.

When Star Citizen got its airing at the Game Awards earlier this month, the accompanying trailer announced the long-awaited Alpha 2.0 was playable immediately. That turned out to be inaccurate, but now – or as of December 12 – backers are able to play what the studio is calling “the next major step in Star Citizen’s evolution”. As was reported recently, the Alpha features first-person shooting and EVA, or extra-vehicular activity. As for that other major component of a space sim, flying spaceships, there are new flight modes and ships available. The full rundown is worth reading, and Andy put together a briefer summation over here. Access to the Alpha 2.0 is free for backers, no matter which component you wish to access. Oh, and Star Citizen’s already gargantuan crowdfunding pot has reached a new milestone, too: $100 million is what Robert Space Industries has at its disposal to develop the game. You know you’re doing something right when a single fan has already spent $30,000 in-game. At this stage, no final release date for Star Citizen has been announced.