Star Citizen,an early access game that shows plenty of promise, has stirred up quite a bit of criticism in the past,largely due to its court case against refunds, but is considered by many fans to be the pinnacle of what is possible within both the Sci-Fi genre and games as a whole. Luckily, the broader PC audience will soon have a chance to draw their own conclusions, as the game will be free all of next week.
Between November 23rd and 30th, gamers on PC will have the ability to download and play an alpha build ofStar Citizen, including the new planet, Hurston, which is also set to release next week. Players will also be able to check out every ship and vehicle in the game during the free period, though they’ll be rotating on a 24-hour basis. The extended free trial is in celebration of the game’s new planet and should give hopefull space captains plenty of time to decide whether or not they want to drop money on the game.
Star Citizenentered development in 2011 and hasearned more than $161 million in crowdfunding revenuesince then. The title was originally supposed to release in 2014 but has been pushed back multiple times due to the game’s many complex gameplay systems and realistic graphics. Each stage demo of the game has looked incredible, but the likelihood of the game releasing anytime in the next decade seems slim to none, considering how ambitious the project is.
The game has been the center of various controversies since its reveal,even being sued by Crytek for copyright infringementafter it changed game engines. Despite this, the game has carved out a hardcore community of dedicated fans who anxiously await a full release that may never come. However, even with the controversies, it’s hard to argue thatStar Citizenisn’t an incredibly cool idea. It may sometimes draw comparisons toNo Man’s Sky’sinfamous launch, but it will certainly be an incredible space to explore whenever the full release sees the light of day.
Star Citizenis currently in development and does not currently have a release date.
