After over a decade of development and $670 million raised from crowdfunding, Cloud Imperium Games is finally setting its sights on Star Citizen’s long-awaited 1.0 “commercial release” to mark the space sim MMO’s departure from alpha status.
In his latest letter to backers, CIG founder Chris Roberts declared the upcoming year “our biggest and best yet” as the studio pushes to deliver the final crucial technology enabling a fully interconnected, shared universe experience for Star Citizen.
“We are on the cusp of delivering one of the final pieces of technology that will enable a connected, shared universe that thousands of people can experience together at the same time,” Roberts stated, referring to CIG’s new server meshing solution.
This transformative tech allows players to seamlessly travel between servers, a critical milestone Roberts says represents Star Citizen finally achieving its ambitious 1.0 release goals.
“Star Citizen 1.0 is what we consider the features and content set to represent ‘commercial’ release,” he explained. “This means that the game is welcoming to new players, stable, and polished with enough gameplay and content to engage players continuously. In other words, it is no longer Alpha or Early Access.”
While cautioning that development will continue post-launch, Roberts framed 1.0 as the culmination of over a decade’s work to deliver the seamless, persistent online universe initially promised to crowdfunding backers when Star Citizen’s fundraising began in 2012.
“After many hard years of work towards a goal many thought was impossible, we are on the cusp of [achieving it],” said Roberts.
Veteran developer Rich Tyrer has also rejoined CIG to “help push Star Citizen to the next stage of its development, ultimately culminating in leaving early access and releasing the 1.0 version.”
While an exact 1.0 release date remains undisclosed, Roberts affirmed “2023 marked the beginning of a transformative chapter for Cloud Imperium”, with server meshing positioning 2024 as Star Citizen’s pivotal year.
The keenly awaited 1.0 launch aims to finally deliver the hugely crowdfunded title’s original vision as a cutting-edge space exploration MMO after nearly 12 years of public and private investment.
