How long has Star Citizen been in development? A timeline of promises, delays and milestones

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Over time, the atmosphere surrounding Star Citizen has undergone significant shifts. What once began as a groundbreaking, unique concept has morphed into a tale of caution. Despite amassing an unparalleled sum of money, the game has yet to deliver much of what was initially envisioned – not even mentioning that Squadron 42 is still pending release. The game’s loyal fanbase has drastically diminished due to growing discontent over concerns that Cloud Imperium Games prioritizes selling pricey spaceships over completing the game, leading one to ponder: has Star Citizen truly been in development for as long as people think? Did it start in 2012, or did it begin even earlier?

Star Citizen through the years (and then some)

Let’s lay it out in a timeline to make things more transparent:

  1. 2010: Chris Roberts begins sketching out a new space sim, a spiritual successor to Wing Commander and Freelancer.
  2. 2011: A small team, with some outside help, puts together a basic prototype in CryEngine 3 (a hangar and a simple spaceflight demo) meant to pitch the idea to investors. Instead of chasing a new Wing Commander, Roberts spent 2011–2012 focused on showing Star Citizen could actually work.
  3. October 2012 (Announcement): Star Citizen is revealed at GDC Austin, and the response is so massive it crashes the website. A week later, the Kickstarter launches and smashes its goal, raising over $2 million. The hype convinces Roberts to go all-in on crowdfunding, skipping traditional investors. By the end of the year, CIG has enough money to move full speed ahead. At this time the game was estimated to be released in 2014.

  1. 2013-2014: CIG kicks off a modular release plan so backers can try parts of Star Citizen early. In August 2013, the Hangar Module drops, letting players walk around and check out their ships. Then in mid-2014, Arena Commander launches, bringing space combat and racing. Around the same time, they announce Star Marine, an FPS module, but that one hits major delays and doesn’t come out for years. Despite the slow pace, excitement is still high, and crowdfunding blows past $15 million.
  2. 2015-2017: CIG began combining modules into the open-world Persistent Universe, launching its first alpha in late 2015 – buggy but playable. Star Marine faced delays and finally released in late 2016. They switched from CryEngine to Lumberyard for better multiplayer support. Alpha 3.0, with planets and more gameplay, was delayed until late 2017, kicking off early access with mixed results. After that, CIG started regular updates and roadmaps.

  1. 2018-2021: They added the Chairman’s Club Members (Concierge) system, which is causing quite a stir these days. New planets, cities, and cool features like face-tracking (FOIP) and dynamic streaming tech were added to boost performance. By 2020, planets like ArcCorp and MicroTech expanded the universe even more. Updates kept coming with new gameplay (prisons, events, mining, and more) even through the pandemic. Meanwhile, they worked on big tech upgrades like server meshing to support more players. But as the game kept growing, delays and frustration piled up. By 2022, with no release date in sight, some began to wonder if Star Citizen would ever fully launch.
  2. 2022-2025: Alpha 3.18 added Persistent Entity Streaming, a key step toward a continuous universe, but the launch had major server issues. Through 2022–2023, gameplay improved, but Pyro and server meshing missed deadlines. In 2024, Roberts called server meshing the “last big hurdle” before a polished 1.0 release. Yet, by mid-2025, Star Citizen and Squadron 42 are still in alpha with no clear release date. Development continues, but the finish line is far off.

When it’s already taken forever, how much longer is too long?

Since Chris Roberts seriously got to work on Star Citizen towards the end of 2011, by mid-2025, it will have been about 13.5 to 14 years in development. If we consider the planning phase that began around 2010, it’s close to 15 years. And from its public unveiling in 2012, it’s more than a dozen years.

It’s accurate to describe Star Citizen as having been under development for more than a decade, expanding from a simple concept into a vast, continually expanding online realm. As the developers continue to add the remaining features, they haven’t yet specified a definitive release date. At this point, it can be considered an ongoing alpha phase of development, which may challenge traditional perceptions of what extended game development entails.

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2025-06-11 14:32