Star Citizen crosses $17 million

Star Citizen, already the most crowdfunded project of any kind in history, has reached a new milestone.

Overnight, the PC space simulator from Chris Roberts surpassed $17 million in funding, up from $15 million earlier this month. Total funding currently stands at $17,077,414 from 236,668 total backers.

Now that Star Citizen has reached $17 million, every backer will receive an ship upgrade containing an engine modifier and the battlecruiser ship class. Should funding reach $18 million, supporters will receive an "exclusive star system."

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.