Star Citizen banks over $41 million in crowdfunding,aims for towels

Star Citizen, which has now raised enough cash to buy Zimbabwe, pave it over and sell it to the Chinese as a parking lot, thanks to solid crowd-funding. And now the game has raised even more bucks. Madness.

The upcoming PC space-ace dogfighter, from Chris “Wing Commander” Roberts and various other talented developers, is now sitting on over $41 million in crowd-sourced funds for the games. With that milestone reached, that means that Star Citizen will now be able to add procedurally generated content to the game, creating new worlds and systems for players to explore in the cold, dark vacuum of space.

So what’s the next target? $42 million will see the game add a “Galactipedia” to the final product, as well as a new fighter ship and the most important thing that any potential navigator will ever need when exploring the space-ways – A towel. Here’s the full details from RSI on those potential unlocks:

• Updated Observist Guide – Additional funding from the $42 million level will go to expanding the website area of the Galactapedia: expect to see holographic ships, items and navigation interface in 3D! Imagine admiring your ships or planning your loadouts right here at the RSI website.

• Explorer-class mobiGlas Rig – Every player who backs before we hit $42 million will start the game with their own, visually distinctive mobiGlas “ExoGlas” rig which can be used to access the Observist at any time. I’ve charged the mobiGlas team with a very difficult task: creating a realistic interface that will help keep your affairs in order in an expansive galaxy that we hope players will expand in unknown directions. It’s almost like building our own in fiction operating system for an imagined future, and it’s very different task than building spaceships. This backer-exclusive mobiGlas kit will come pre-loaded with additional galactic information that new players would ordinarily need to explore or barter to fill out; it’s our way of honoring the information you’ve collected about the Star Citizen universe through the RSI site and community over the past year!

• Gladius – The Squadron 42 team will develop an additional fighter for the game, the Aegis Dynamics Gladius-class light fighter. The Gladius will be the first fighter built entirely from concept to CryEngine in the UK! Here’s the official description:The Aegis Gladius is the UEE’s reigning light short-range patrol fighter. A single-seat ship with no room for expansion, the Gladius is fast, maneuverable and capable of punching far above its weight. The main advantage to the design is simplicity: cheap to produce, easy to repair and outfit and quick to train new pilots on. The Gladius is an aging design nearing the end of its life-cycle, although iterative updates have kept it the most nimble fighter in the active fleet.

• Towel – And of course, everyone who backs before we hit $42 million will also receive a towel for their hangar. Don’t explore the galaxy without it!

Star Citizen is due for launch in 2015. I’ve sent Chris an email asking if he can include Vogon poetry, and he told me that if the game reaches the $1 billion goal, he’ll do so.

Last Updated: April 1, 2014