Star Citizen is an upcoming massively multiplayer online First Person Universe video game for Microsoft Windows developed by Chris Roberts' company Cloud Imperium, and is planned to be published by Roberts Space Industries. The development started in late 2012, currently in development across four studios in the United States and Europe, and there is no official release date as of 2023.[1]

The development includes a single-player campaign titled Squadron 42.

Star Citizen is in open development by the development team across 5 studios, CIG Austin and CIG Los Angeles in the USA, Foundry 42 Manchester and Foundry 42 Derby in the UK, and Foundry 42 Frankfurt in Germany. The team regularly share updates, behind the scenes videos and developer commentary, and also made early builds of the game available, so that the backers can test and provide feedback while it is in development.[1]

Prior to the release of Alpha 3.0.0, the development team utilized the traditional Waterfall methodology for each build. Game builds are deployed when it's feature complete which results in moving deadlines, particularly the eight months gap between Alpha 2.6.3 and 3.0.0. After the release of Alpha 3.0.0, the development shifted to Agile to speed up the development time. Game builds are scheduled to be released quarterly, and features will be moved between builds if necessary.[2]

Its development is 100% funded by a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign. It is the largest crowd funded project and game in the world (recognized by Guinness World Records in 2015), with more than $142 million raised.[3] Non-development related content such as behind-the-scenes shows, digital publications are funded by subscription revenue from the subscribers.[4]

The core MMO component of Star Citizen is referred to as the Persistent Universe.[citation needed]

It is the spiritual successor to Freelancer.

The Persistent Universe can be accessed from the lobby.[citation needed]

This in-fiction competitive arena-based space combat sim is available now.[citation needed]

Arena Commander can be accessed via the SimPod or from the Lobby.[citation needed]

This in-fiction competitive arena-based FPS game will be available as of Alpha 2.6.0.[citation needed]

Star Marine will be accessed via the SimPod or from the Lobby.[citation needed]

This aspect of Star Citizen will not be implemented until after release.[5][6]

Although often bundled under the Star Citizen umbrella, Squadron 42 is a standalone game.[citation needed]

Squadron 42 is a cinematic singleplayer space game featuring space combat, FPS, and a branching plotline.[citation needed]

It is the spiritual successor to Wing Commander.[citation needed]

Squadron 42 is slated for release in 2017 (or at least it was slated for 2016 and delayed).[7]

The Star Citizen (excluding Squadron 42) Soundtrack by Pedro Camacho is available with several pledge tiers[citation needed] and also separately on the RSI Website[citation needed]. It has yet to be released. However numerous tracks have been made public.[citation needed]

Star Citizen is being developed for PC with planned Linux support.[8][9] The developers have stated that bringing Star Citizen to the consoles is not planned.[10]