Star Citizen crosses $15 million

Chris Roberts' all-new PC space sim Star Citizen, already the most crowdfunded project of all time, has hit a new milestone. The game's crowdfunding campaign has reached $15 million, up from $14 million in under a month.

At press time, funding for Star Citizen stands at $15,009,504 from 220,351 backers.

"It's unbelievable," reads an update on the game's website. "Star Citizen fans have helped us reach the $15 million mark without any special promotion. Ten years ago, big publishers decided space games weren’t profitable… and you are proving them very, very wrong."

The $15 million mark unlocks another flyable ship class to the game and a 42-page digital Upgrade Handbook manual, which details the process of customizing and overclocking ships.

The game's previously announced $16 million stretch goal is for an Arena mode, described as the next generation of Wing Commander's TrainSim and not a PvP game. In addition, if funding for Star Citizen reaches this level, every backer will received a laser pistol.

If funding for Star Citizen reaches $17 million, the developer said, every pledger will receive an ship upgrade containing an engine modifier and the battlecruiser ship class.

Star Citizen has been in development at Cloud Imperium Games for more than a year. The game itself includes a "sophisticated storyline" that is set in a persistent online universe.

According to Roberts, it will fuse elements of his previous games, Wing Commander and Freelancer. Support for the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift is planned.

Star Citizen is expected to release in late 2014.