It seems that Star Citizen is running out of money.

Spyxos

Spyxos

Member
PlV9qSC.png


  • Introduction of "Flight Blades" and Pay-to-Win Concerns: CIG introduced new ship customization items, called "flight blades," available exclusively through the cash shop, which enhance ship performance, leading to accusations of pay-to-win mechanics. This has frustrated players, particularly long-time backers who feel it undermines the game's integrity and prioritizes revenue over fairness.
The "Flight Blades" system in Star Citizen was scrapped after intense community backlash due to its initial real-money-only availability, which sparked widespread accusations of pay-to-win monetization.

  • Ongoing Development Delays and Financial Scrutiny: With Star Citizen still in alpha after over a decade and $800 million raised, fans are increasingly skeptical of CIG's financial management and development progress. Critics argue that the reliance on new monetization strategies suggests funding issues, despite the massive crowdfunding success.



 
Last edited:
Animated GIF


I remember being super excited for this when it was announced but did not buy in as I was sceptical about the whole pay before the game is even developed thing. So glad as that excitement I once had has long disappeared.
 
Hasn't it always been pay to win but with more money = better ships. The cosmetic look of the ship was never the only difference…?
 
They are absolutely not running out of money. They made like 4 million over this last weekend alone. Furthermore, with the overwhelmingly negative response from players, CIG is walking these things back as fast as they can. It's my understanding that a lot of times a game's marketing team will intentionally push the envelope to see what they can get away with.

Well, they found the line in the sand.

Mattyp said:
Hasn't it always been pay to win but with more money = better ships. The cosmetic look of the ship was never the only difference…?
Click to expand...

This isn't necessarily true because there isn't a linear "better" ship. You could buy a $600 ship that's meant for a big crew of 4-8 players to fully man all of the stations. Try flying it by yourself and get absolutely destroyed by a single seater fighter ship that cost $50.

Or you could just not buy any ships with real money and earn them in game.
 
Last edited:
Spyxos said:
PlV9qSC.png


  • Introduction of "Flight Blades" and Pay-to-Win Concerns: CIG introduced new ship customization items, called "flight blades," available exclusively through the cash shop, which enhance ship performance, leading to accusations of pay-to-win mechanics. This has frustrated players, particularly long-time backers who feel it undermines the game's integrity and prioritizes revenue over fairness.
  • Community Backlash and Monetization Frustrations: The community, especially on platforms like Reddit and X, has expressed outrage over what they perceive as predatory monetization, with fears that CIG is shifting toward selling gameplay advantages rather than cosmetic items. This is compounded by the game's history of expensive ship pledges, with some players having invested thousands of dollars, only to see new paid content further fragment the experience.
  • Ongoing Development Delays and Financial Scrutiny: With Star Citizen still in alpha after over a decade and $800 million raised, fans are increasingly skeptical of CIG's financial management and development progress. Critics argue that the reliance on new monetization strategies suggests funding issues, despite the massive crowdfunding success.
  • Erosion of Trust and Communication Issues: CIG's response to the backlash has been seen as inadequate by some, failing to fully address concerns about the game's direction or provide clear timelines for completion. This has deepened distrust among players, who feel that promises made during the 2012 crowdfunding campaign remain unfulfilled, fueling debates about the project's viability.
Click to expand...


As far as I read, they already removed the "flight blades". Backlash from their community was big.
 
I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that you can log in and play this "scam" for free, right now, and see what it's got to offer for yourself. Bear in mind the game is still in alpha, with many things unfinished, but it's quite playable now with a very active player base.
 
Comandr said:
I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that you can log in and play this "scam" for free, right now, and see what it's got to offer for yourself. Bear in mind the game is still in alpha, with many things unfinished, but it's quite playable now with a very active player base.
Click to expand...

Is it fun?
 
Comandr said:
I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that you can log in and play this "scam" for free, right now, and see what it's got to offer for yourself. Bear in mind the game is still in alpha, with many things unfinished, but it's quite playable now with a very active player base.
Click to expand...
Forever in alpha.
 
These idiots don't know when to stop is the problem. The very definition of scope creep. Massively mismanaged project that should have released fucking years ago.

Just release the single player portion of the game already FFS.
 
Same thing happened with Freelancer before Microsoft stepped in and saved the project. Chris Roberts needs a producer who can firmly tell him "Ok. We're doing a feature freeze now and getting everything we've got now up to a point where we can ship it."
 
Hudo said:
Same thing happened with Freelancer before Microsoft stepped in and saved the project. Chris Roberts needs a producer who can firmly tell him "Ok. We're doing a feature freeze now and getting everything we've got now up to a point where we can ship it."
Click to expand...
Unfortunately there is no one who is going to step in this time

It's possible they might spend over $1 billion and still have nothing to show for it at the rate they are going
 
Hudo said:
Same thing happened with Freelancer before Microsoft stepped in and saved the project. Chris Roberts needs a producer who can firmly tell him "Ok. We're doing a feature freeze now and getting everything we've got now up to a point where we can ship it."
Click to expand...
They've effectively designed a saucerful monetary system around hopes & dreams.

I think they're afraid of losing that.
 
Sybrix said:
At what point is this game investigated for money laundering?
Click to expand...
It should have happened about a decade ago.
calico said:
I kickstarted this shit for Squadron 42 💀
Click to expand...
Same.

And it was supposed to be released over 10 years ago, and we haven't even seen an alpha version of SQ42.

I gave up hope of ever playing it a long time ago. If it is ever released, I can't imagine what the game will look like. The video cutscenes were filmed almost 15 years ago now.
 
bitbydeath said:
I don't believe it has ever left the "Find your own fun" mode, which is what No Man's Sky suffered from early on.
Click to expand...
I don't think that premise is a problem, it's only a problem if there is no fun or only limited fun to be had. There are plenty of games that don't have objectives and you have to find your own fun that are massively successful such as paradox grand strategy games.
 
Poppinfresh said:
They are never actually going to ship a product, so...

As long as the grift keeps making money they have zero incentive to finish the game or release the single-player component.
Click to expand...

I wonder this as well. Actually, I'm kinda surprised they haven't seen a class action lawsuit or two given how litigious today's society is.
Original kickstarter promised products over a decade ago.
 
When this was Kickstarted I was flying a Sandy Bridge + Gtx 560.

Nvidia and Intel were still consistently delivering on the hardware front.

EA was still beginning to deliver a fairly good sequence of Battlefield games (3-4-1)

We still had hope that Diablo 3 (in beta testing) would be a great game like D2.

BioWare was still a household name in WRPG and CDPR was an "indie" company...
 
Last edited:
Gp1 said:
When this was Kickstarted I was flying a Sandy Bridge + Gtx 560.

Nvidia and Intel were still consistently delivering on the hardware front.

EA was still beginning to deliver a fairly good sequence of Battlefield games (3-4-1)

We were still had hope that Diablo 3 (in beta testing) would be a great game like D2.

BioWare was still a household name in WRPG and CDPR was an "indie" company...
Click to expand...

lol, yeah. My oldest was in elementary school when the kickstarter launched, now she's almost done with college.
 
Brakum said:
I don't think that premise is a problem, it's only a problem if there is no fun or only limited fun to be had. There are plenty of games that don't have objectives and you have to find your own fun that are massively successful such as paradox grand strategy games.
Click to expand...
Haven't heard of that one before, but it comes off as incomplete IMO.
 
Comandr said:
I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that you can log in and play this "scam" for free, right now, and see what it's got to offer for yourself. Bear in mind the game is still in alpha, with many things unfinished, but it's quite playable now with a very active player base.
Click to expand...
The game has been in alpha for 10 years. 'Still in alpha' isn't an excuse at this point.
 
There should be one of those rise and fall video's from where we were with the Wing Commander series to where we are now, with Scam Citizen..this is further evidence of how once upon a time you brought what you paid for, no additional costs necessary..
 
I cannot wait for the day when this house of cards falls flat.

SQ42 may be perfection incarnate and I still doubt it's gonna make them enough money to push through with the development of the Verse game mode or whatever the fuck they call it.

The denials and meltdowns will be legendary.
 
ClanOfNone said:
I wonder this as well. Actually, I'm kinda surprised they haven't seen a class action lawsuit or two given how litigious today's society is.
Original kickstarter promised products over a decade ago.
Click to expand...
I'm surprised there hasn't been a lawsuit as well, especially from some of the original whales that invested tens of thousands of dollars over a decade ago.

I'm convinced that we're never actually going to see a "complete" game unless another developer is forced to step in and take over for CIG at some point, either because of civil lawsuits or criminal charges.
 
ClanOfNone said:
I wonder this as well. Actually, I'm kinda surprised they haven't seen a class action lawsuit or two given how litigious today's society is.
Original kickstarter promised products over a decade ago.
Click to expand...

I don't think kickstarter promises hold much water legal-wise, so in the scenario where this whole thing collapses, Roberts will be free and clear as far as backers are concerned. He'll probably file for bankruptcy too so the devs get shafted.
 
Spyxos said:
The "Flight Blades" system in Star Citizen was scrapped after intense community backlash due to its initial real-money-only availability, which sparked widespread accusations of pay-to-win monetization.
Click to expand...

Donald Trump GIF by reactionseditor


Not scrapped, just delayed until the system is available to be purchasable in-game with in-game money which it was going to be, just not ready until June.

The whole backlash was because peoples couldn't buy it in-game and were too eager to get these blades. Basically no self control to wait a month and get it in-game. Nobody gives a fuck if they sell this shit on a store, but not exclusively on the store.

Thread title is comical considering that they're about to have a record year

Spyxos said:
It can be fun, but the whole game is very buggy, which leads to a lot of frustration. But I have to say that I haven't played it for about 6 months.
Click to expand...

Haven't played for a while either but these last patches have been focus on making it stable and nemiroff nemiroff could probably chime in but it's probably the most stable it has ever been
 
Comandr said:
I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that you can log in and play this "scam" for free, right now, and see what it's got to offer for yourself. Bear in mind the game is still in alpha, with many things unfinished, but it's quite playable now with a very active player base.
Click to expand...
"Still in Alpha". I mean yeah, people are very unfair. Kickstarter was over only "checks dates" 11 years ago. 🤣😂🤣🤡🤡🤡

Edit: One of my kids was in pre-school and the other one in daycare. Now one is in high school and second in middle school. They will graduate from University before this "game" is released.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Star Citizen Crowdfunding Passes $800 Million
2
66
3K
nowhat replied
Star Citizen | Alpha 4.1 - Orbital Assault
5
554
Angry_Megalodon replied
  • Poll
LTTP: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (and what would you rate it out of 10?)
2
55
2K
Arachnid replied
Squadron 42 (Star Citizen single-player campaign), might be getting a Console port
Rumor Platform 
40
293
Katatonic replied
Metal Gear Solid the board game was just released and it is seems awesome
10
1K
TheInfamousKira replied
Top Bottom