That’s cause Star Citizen is a grift.
Star Citizen is on course to reach $1 billion in player funding in 2026, and we still might not get to play its singleplayer campaign next year
Submitted 22 hours ago by slaacaa@lemmy.world to games@lemmy.world
Comments
tanisnikana@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip 21 hours ago
100% selling hopes and dreams.
jagermo@feddit.org 21 hours ago
I have fun. You don’t have to pay more than the 45 € beginner pack, if you don’t want to. Its still rough but you can see how the pieces start fitting together.
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
You don’t have to pay more than the 45 € beginner pack
That’s an absolutely obscene ask for a game that has no prospects of being finished in the foreseeable future – let alone that it intentionally puts you at a disadvantage to players who paid hundreds of euros for this stupid piece of shit grift.
fonix232@fedia.io 20 hours ago
"Hey come pay yesteryear's AAA title price for a game that's been overpromising and underdelivering for the better part of the past two decades" is not the sales pitch you think it is...
Sunk cost fallacy is a bitch. One must be severely delusional to think that after paying however much you did AND waiting for 12+ years, having a barely playable alpha when the original timeline was for a 2015 release AND it's still being promised for a 2027 release (which, given the state of the alpha, is likely to be missed too), this is in any way acceptable.
Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip 21 hours ago
I’ve seen the pieces “start to fit together” for like 14 years…
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 21 hours ago
I’ll wait thanks, I have not paid that much in a game all year and don’t intend to start now on something so unfinished.
Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 19 hours ago
Doesn’t matter that you can try the game for free several time a year either. Stop having fun! Grrrrr!
/s
FatVegan@leminal.space 17 hours ago
I played this game more than i played red dead redemption for example. Like way more, and it was cheaper. 1 billion is insane, everyone knows that. But there are crypto and nft games that gobblet up 250millions and it’s just a standard asset pack made by a guy in a week and there isn’t as much of an outrage, because people just want to be mad.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
they’ve funded a billion dollars and worked over a decade on a game. it should not be rough.
Rhoeri@piefed.world 20 hours ago
You’re part of the problem.
RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Hell of a grift.
Strider@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
Never preorder.
The fun thing is looking into history… especially the one of Freelancer. It would never have been released if it weren’t for Jörg Neumann who - in short - finished it.
fennesz12@feddit.dk 11 hours ago
I spent 40$ on it back in 2013. I looked forward to playing the single player campaign.
Then I found a girl. Went through university. Got a career. Had two kids. Got a divorce. And now I have time to play it again, but feel like I’ve mostly grown out of gaming.
GG Chris Roberts.
BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
I backed it a lifetime ago and have gone back and forth between “it’s a scam” and “maybe it could happen” so many times that I just don’t care any more. As broken as it is and as slow as progress has been, there has never been anything like it. I check in a couple of times every year and usually have fun seeing the sights for a week or two. I think I’ve had enough enjoyment from it to justify my original cost.
Even though their goals are unreasonable, irrational, and completely mad, they have somehow managed to fund stable development for over a decade and have actually made meaningful progress. Will I live to see it realized? Who knows. I wish them luck for both their sakes and the people who spent big money on this ridiculous dream, but unlike many others, I have no hard feelings personally. I’d like to see it realized someday, but I have no more money to give them even if I wanted to.
Demdaru@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
When the scam managed to run long enough to, be it by a chance or choice, stop being a scam xD
Flamekebab@piefed.social 21 hours ago
Game development as a service.
marzhall@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
My friends were very excitedly talking about setting up a corp in this when it was first announced.
They wanted my buy-in, and I asked if I could be head of HR, to which they said “yes”.
So I bought it, created our corp, and performed my ideal goal: set up a corp recruitment posting called “entry-level Star Citizen player” which required 10+ years in Star Citizen.
We’re now at the point where I have to find my log-in and change that to 20+ for the joke to make sense again.
deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 20 hours ago
$1 billion !?
That is insane.
Elite Dangerous had a budget of £8m… if Cloud Imperium Games can’t release SC for a hundred times that amount is because it’s a gift.
Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip 20 hours ago
You did a reverse EriKa KirK there. I think you meant “grift” not “gift”
deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 19 hours ago
I did indeed.
I blame Samsung’s appalling autocorrect.
Passerby6497@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
it’s because it’s a grift.
Always has been.
Look at the price of those ships you can buy, it looks like a very obvious attempt to keep rolling in money while always juuuuuuust being a bit too far away to release. But just give us a few more million and we’ll toooootally release it.
Goodeye8@piefed.social 9 hours ago
You can’t even see the most outlandish prices because the shop has a hidden shop. If you want to see the most expensive ships you have to have spent something like 12k on the game.
I’m not sure if my entire steam library is worth 12k and my library is pretty big.
Passerby6497@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
Tedesche@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
Learn to spell before you make fun of others.
Passerby6497@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
Learn to recognize mocking sarcasm before you make dumb comments on the Internet
AstaKask@lemmy.cafe 5 hours ago
I swear social media people with a very limited grip on what “scam” and “grift” means are more obsessed with Star Citizen than us who actually play it. I log on to do some space trucking when I need to relax, or want to check out whatever new has been added. I’ve gotten more value out of that game in the last couple of years than any I’ve bought since. Many AAA games I don’t even remember playing.
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
I like this take.
It seems like there are ‘victims’ sinking way too much money into SC. But if the gameplay is enjoyable, and fits your budget? Enjoy it. Hell yes.
fantacyde@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 hours ago
Gonna get Senior Citizen before full release Star Citizen
Agent641@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
Soon the game won’t need funding because it will be eligible for retirement pension
But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Man I wish I knew how to scam idiots like this
Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip 11 hours ago
-
Appeal to past experience
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Present an ambitious “vision” that claims to require said past experience to fully understand
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Allow your targets to start building the product in their imagination based on the crumbs you gave them with step 2
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Sell disjointed tangential products that don’t interfere with the player’s dream logic and promise they will connect to your cohesive vision with time
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Find “technical delays”
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Express that you need backers to buy more of the dream to help get through the technical delays
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Repeat for 9 years until the market begins to retract
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Open the dream up to asian markets
???
Profit
-
EarMaster@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
I can somehow understand the people who funded it in the first place, but who invests now in a project which has already been in development hell for more than a decade and produced barely anything playable. Every whale has already been milked - what return of investment can an investor expect from Star Citizen?
directive0@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Not to defend SC too much, and full disclosure I don’t play it. But I have friends who DO play it and it seems like they are having a lot of fun?
They aren’t evangelists for the game or anything, so its not a fanboy situation. They just play it a lot, and with lots of other people. They have an online community and meet up IRL for events. Post vids of their exploits. It seems fun to me? I asked them about the bugs and stuff and they fully admit it is buggy and things are broken, they make no apologies for it. They figure out workarounds and share it with the crew. I don’t know, these guys are usually pretty critical of games but they seem happy weirdly. Maybe a cult?
There is no fucking way that I am ever going to pay for a fake star ship or anything so I’m not even considering it. And the entire funding model of the game seems batshit insane to me. But to me it seems like the idea that the game is unplayable doesn’t really match the reality? Its clearly not a good value proposition at all.
boywar3@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
It definitely is actually “playable” now, and I’ve had a good amount of fun playing it this year, but it certainly isn’t ready for release or anything.
That said, the network infra they have created is pretty cool: 600+ player servers with relatively little issue, and the goal of 1000 long term is quite a feat of engineering.
They fucked themselves overpromising so much back at the beginning by giving the release dates they did while using like, Unity or something, and now they have the infra/engine to deliver, but nobody trusts them to actually do so.
this@sh.itjust.works 12 hours ago
It’s still $45 to access the game if you don’t have it yet(and that counts as a pledge, and therefore part of the game’s funding), but yea as a player and a backer I essentially agree. You’re basically spending money to skip game progression after the final wipe before release(whenever that happens).
IMO it takes some of the enjoyment out of the game even in its current buggy alpha form. You can earn basically everything except for the most recently(ish) released ships(and some cosmetic items) entirely within the game.
You do get a game to play for $45 though. A game with a zillion bugs and issues but a game nonetheless. I personally feel like it was worth $45 for the entertainment value I’ve gotten out of it. Not worth the amount I spent(like a decade ago), but the first $45 feels worth it now.
That being said, don’t buy the game if you expect a polished experience.
korendian@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
I am ashamed to admit that I fell for the scam. It was 2019, and Pyro was right around the corner (except it wasn’t, and wouldn’t make it into the game until 2025). They showed off jump points with a super amazing megastructure ring, an in depth economy simulation, and lots of other really interesting stuff that has still not made it into the game.
Over time, I began to realize I had been scammed. The game just continued to be broken and lacking in features, update after update. Eventually I had enough and sold my account for good in 2024, with the 4th consecutive year of failing to deliver Pyro Since then, I have continued to check in and have not once regretted my decision to cash out of the scam. It is still a buggy and unfun mess. They have scaled back their projections for 1.0 from 100 systems to 5. Their idea of science and exploration is “go here and scan”. It is a shell of the game that was promised years ago, and will never be able to live up to the hype. Overpromise and underdeliver is their mantra.
CptOblivius@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
2016, for me. 42 was supposed to release the next year…such a scam…
korendian@lemmy.zip 15 hours ago
Squadron was just another turd on the dumpster fire for me. I didn’t back the project for it, but the fact that it’s been “two years away” for the last decade +, is just another indicator of how much of a scam this thing is. I will be seriously shocked if they manage to finally push it out the door next year, and even more shocked if it is not a totally shit show. There’s no way it lives up to how insanely high it has been hyped up, and I’m just going to be chowing down on popcorn when the shit hits the fan.
boonhet@sopuli.xyz 14 hours ago
They have scaled back their projections for 1.0 from 100 systems to 5.
Wow is that the first realistic thing they’ve done?
MilitantAtheist@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
I’ve played elite dangerous for 4k hours. Done everything there is to do in that game. Had a great time. Glad I chose that game instead of the SC scam.
silver_wings_of_morning@feddit.dk 17 hours ago
yeah but how sick is the game gonna be after $1 billion in funding
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
Now imagine it being double that good for just $2 billion!
llamapocalypse@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Goddamn just come play EVE, we have crime, pretty ships, and hilarity
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 20 hours ago
Started EVE in like 2009, now I find it just ends up taking so much time to do anything. Never been into 1v1 PvP but do like small to medium groups, but that can take so much time to get and you might not even find anything.
So it ends up with you sitting there for ages with nothing going on, then When it does start to get interesting sorry gotta drop off to go to bed.
krooklochurm@lemmy.ca 20 hours ago
Elite dangerous is a blast for a while. And it has be.
I haven’t played since before you could go and walk around, but for what it is I loved it for a while.
Wide as an ocean and deep as a puddle but it takes a long while to notice the lack of depth and it’s a blast to pop in your vr headset and some good country trucking music and just hop around the galaxy trading.
Wooki@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
You have a sandbox for griefers. Nota chance in hell. Eve is not even remotely close to similar except it too grifts players
boonhet@sopuli.xyz 14 hours ago
I mean in EVE, it’s the players that grift each other mostly. That’s why it’s called EvE, or Everyone vs Everyone
llamapocalypse@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
You’ve kind of got to go out of your way to get “griefed” tbh, I largely fly solo and short of the occasional unexpected gatecamp or gank (the latter means you were doing something too risky in something expensive and somebody did the math) the biggest issue is in finding decent matchups that don’t end in a cyno dropping 20 redeemers on you
rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 20 hours ago
No flying though. I’m looking for airplanes in space and sometimes SC can scratch that itch but E:D is the better product.
Like you literally cannot “fly” your damn spaceship, you have to use a point and click interface (at least the last time I checked). I wish SC was a good product and I’ll be sad the day E:D goes offline but EVE is definitely not it for me.
ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
Lmao.
Even my non-gamer wife knows about the scam that is SC. Honestly, at least it’s just whales who fall for it, who had too much money undeservedly either way. 🤷
CaptainBasculin@lemmy.bascul.in 22 hours ago
I’d be just fine with an Everspace 2 multiplayer expansion with just 1/10th of this budget.
Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip 20 hours ago
I really wish another company would come along and just do properly what CIG pretends they’re doing. I would love the game SC shows in their marketing, I wish a company would come along and make their own competent version of that experience while leaving the Chris Roberts and CIG jank and practices behind.
CosmoNova@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
People still contribute to this scam? That‘s a shame.
pyre@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
I love how they say “next year” like that was the expected release date to begin with.
titanicx@lemmy.zip 13 hours ago
Fucking scam. This is as bad as a crypto scam.
Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 14 hours ago
Note that Duke Nukem Forever released (poorly) before this travesty.
ampersandrew@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
What you can play right now in Star Citizen is arguably better than what Duke Nukem Forever will ever be.
Rhoeri@piefed.world 20 hours ago
So many people not seeing the grift…. Unbelievable.
Phegan@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
I am waiting to play star citizen until full release. I assume I will never play star citizen.
fantacyde@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 hours ago
Gonna get Senior Citizen before full release Star Citizen
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
I stopped buying beta games since one repeatedly broke some great mods, the modder gave up.
foodvacuum@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Me having spent zero dollars on this. Only interaction ever was installing that hangar thing back when it was the only thing. Maybe there was some demo when the space station first became available and some fps gameplay test.
Still looking forward to it. If the story is good, works on Linux, I’ll buy it. I remember a decade ago being worried the Haswell and Maxwell PC I was putting together wouldn’t be good enough when Star Citizen would drop. Not very concerned anymore
pyrinix@kbin.melroy.org 9 hours ago
Hint: It won't ever be 100%
Any and all time I hear of this 'game', I can't help but think that it is a scam. It is perhaps the most decorated and sugar-coated of scams to ever exist. Simply because they're saying 'yeah you can kindof play it' and that alone, is their cover-all excuse. It wasn't too long ago that they invested in some very expensive office and they proclaimed that they needed it to help further development or whatever bullshit reason they stated it was for.
But yeah they can just do whatever they want and fools will still throw down their money, even though they probably will almost never know where all of it will go to. I won't be surprised if some of the money is making one guy rich. I wouldn't be surprised if the money is used to funnel some political campaign. Something. We won't ever know, but because this project is technically playable, they just throw up their arms being like "what? it's still developing! we just need more time and money!".
It is projects like Star Citizen, that has made me have an extremely soured perspective with early access projects. One other game that came to mind was 7 Days to Die, I remember getting that through Humble Monthly. At that time, the game was like 5 years in development and was still in the alpha stages.
It went through numerous changes, both unnecessary and unneeded while progressing. But the years kept piling up. I think it is now fully released but it still doesn't look 100%. It just lacked what direction it really wanted to go and even then I thought that project was grifting people who bothered supporting it.
sirico@feddit.uk 20 hours ago
It is going to get to a point general development will surpass and standardise what this game has promised.
BreadstickNinja@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
I’m starting to feel like I might own an actual spaceship before Star Citizen gets to 1.0.
ripcord@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
They’ve dramatically downgraded what 1.0 is supposed to be, so don’t be so sure
Rhoeri@piefed.world 20 hours ago
This “game” will never be released.
CallMeAnAI@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
Absolutely convinced is a government front for some research.
Omega_Jimes@lemmy.ca 12 hours ago
Man I was so stoked during the kickstarter. No suits controlling Chris Roberts, crowd funded, open development of an epic space game.
Now, I’m pretty sure I won’t even have time to play it by the time it’s released. They got my $45 a long time ago, and I’ve spent more time on SC than a lot of $45 games, but…yeah, I’m not excited about it anymore.
nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 minutes ago
looks like shit