For the second year in a row, Star Citizen raised more cash than the whole of gaming Kickstarter combined
Star Citizen, a game that is no longer active on traditional crowdfunding channels, makes a lot more than those that are.
Star Citizen raised an additional $34.91 million over the course of 2017, according to developers Cloud Imperium Games and Roberts Space Industries.
The developer supplied the figure to Polygon, which took a look at video game campaigns on Kickstarter and reported a total of $17.25 million raised across the whole category in 2017. It's the second year in a row Star Citizen has out-performed every game on Kickstarter, apparently.
As the site noted, the figures don't tell the whole story, as Star Citizen is the subject of a number of refund campaigns; users have, in some cases, spent tens of thousands of dollars on virtual goods for the as-yet-unreleased Star Citizen, so there's real potential for adjustment there. You should hit the source link above to check out the figures and get the full picture for yourself.
Nevertheless, the discrepancy between the two amounts is very interesting for a number of reasons. The Kickstarter craze has cooled from its volcanic peaks in 2012 and 2013, with total overall game pledges dropping slightly on 2016 ($17.25 million versus $17.6 million), fewer high-profile campaigns over the past years, and plenty of lingering horror stories of creators who never came through.
On the other hand, Star Citizen, which has been broken into the Squadron 42 single-player campaign and a multiplayer persistent universe, shows no signs of slowing down at all. One year ago Star Citizen had pulled in $141 million, and while it looks like the running total module has been removed from the Roberts Space Industries website, I suppose we can now assume it's around $176 million. No wonder Crytek is suing.
The price of virtual goods in Star Citizen can be pretty breathtaking, and the amounts individuals fork out on a game that doesn't yet exist are likewise astounding.
Star Citizen was first announced in October 2012 with an indie crowdfunding campaign, though Kickstarter pledges were accepted, too. Neither module of the PC exclusive Star Citizen has a release date yet.