Star Citizen scene 1
Crowdfunding world record · 2024

The Most Funded
Game Ever Made

Nearly $1 billion raised from more than 6 million backers. One ambitious space sim that quietly broke every crowdfunding record in human history. This is the story of Star Citizen.

By the Numbers

A record nobody saw coming.

Star Citizen launched a Kickstarter in 2012 asking for $500,000. It hit that goal in under 24 hours. More than a decade later, the funding hasn’t stopped — and no other crowdfunded project, in any category, has come close.

$967M+
Raised from backers
Live total as of April 2026 — closing on $1 billion
6.4M+
Individual backers
More than the population of Denmark
14 yrs
In active development
Since the 2012 Kickstarter that started it all
#1
Crowdfunded project ever
No other campaign in any category is close

Cumulative funding, year by year

Read the full story →
$0M$250M$500M$750M$1000M201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252012 — $6M — Kickstarter2013 — $35M — First record broken2014 — $67M — $50M stretch unlocked2015 — $102M — Nine figures2016 — $138M — Steady climb2017 — $178M — 3.0 alpha2018 — $211M — Outside investment2019 — $250M — Quarter billion2020 — $333M — Pandemic surge2021 — $412M — $400M crossed2022 — $500M — Half a billion2023 — $600M — $600M2024 — $700M — $700M crossed2025 — $855M — Closing on a billion
What is Star Citizen?

An online universe, built in public, one milestone at a time.

Star Citizen is a first-person space simulation game in development by Cloud Imperium Games. Players fly customizable ships, walk around planets and stations, trade goods, mine asteroids, fight pirates, and form crews — all inside a single shared universe with no separate server lobbies.

It’s ambitious in a way few games attempt: seamless transitions from a planet’s surface into orbit and out to other star systems, with no loading screens. Millions of players have bought into that vision early, funding development directly through ship pledges instead of waiting for a traditional release.

That funding model is why this site exists. It’s also why you may have searched “most funded game ever” and ended up here.

Why people keep backing it

Three reasons the money keeps coming.

01

The community

The Star Citizen community is one of the most engaged in gaming. Backers run org events, fly together nightly, build creator content, and treat new players with surprising patience. It feels less like a customer base and more like a frontier town.

02

The vision

Star Citizen aims to merge a space sim, an FPS, an MMO, and an economy game into a single seamless universe. People back the project not because it’s done, but because they want it to exist — and they trust they’re helping build it.

03

The scope

You can fly to a moon, land on it, get out of your ship, walk into a cave, and never see a loading screen. That kind of fidelity is rare in any game — and players reward it. Each new system, ship, or feature pulls the next wave of pledges.

How do you get started?

Three doors in. One of them is free.

Free

Free Fly Events

Several times a year, Star Citizen runs Free Fly events where anyone can download and play a rotating set of ships at no cost. No purchase, no commitment — the easiest way to see what the fuss is about.

Recommended

Starter Pack

A starter pack gets you a permanent account, a starter ship, and access to the persistent universe. The two most common options are the Aurora MR and the Mustang Alpha, both around a one-time $45.

Bonus

Referral Code

Sign up using a referral code and you get 50,000 UEC (in-game credits) free, plus entry into the official referral rewards program. Use the button below to apply our code automatically.

New to all of this?

Learn the basics in plain English.

o7citizen.com is the friendly hub of the network — built for anyone who’s curious about Star Citizen but tired of dense wiki pages, jargon, and forum gatekeeping.