Star Citizen crosses $14 million in funding

Star Citizen, an all-new space simulator from Chris Roberts and the most crowdfunded project of all time, continues to soar. Developer Cloud Imperium Games has announced that funding for the game has crossed $14 million, up from $13 million last week.

"We knew that space sims and PC games both needed a return to their former glory… but we had no idea so many people would support is in this endeavor," the developer said in a statement.

Now that Star Citizen has crossed $14 million, the game will feature a Hibernation Mode that allows players to shut down their spacecraft in deep space and resume later. In addition, Cloud Imperium Games is working on a "professional quality" behind-the-scenes documentary chronicling the game's development.

Cloud Imperium Games also reiterated details on the $15 million Star Citizen stretch goal and for the first time, shared information on how the game will grow if $16 million comes in.

At $15 million, an additional flyable ship class--the escort carrier--will be added. In addition, if funding reaches this level, players will receive a 42-page digital handbook that introduces them to the process of customizing and overlocking their ships.

If funding reaches $16 million, Cloud Imperium Games will develop an Arena mode for Star Citizen. This was described as the next generation of Wing Commander's TrainSim and will allow pilots to test out their combat skills against friends or strangers to gain combat experience.

A laser pistol for every backer will also be added if funding hits $16 million.

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.