Star Citizen’s long-running development has inched forward yet again, this time to the Alpha 3.20 stage.
The latest update, dubbed “Fully Loaded”, overhauls the Arena Commander mode, adds new PvP modes, maps, and racetracks, and adds new missions and ships to the Persistent Universe portion of the space sim.
This is the largest update to Arena Commander since its introduction in 2014, developer Cloud Imperium Games said, and delivers “more focused, bite-sized gameplay with diverse content for racers, fighters, and competitors climbing the leaderboards”.
The update also adds the MISC Hull C ship, the “titan of the cargo hauling profession with room for a crew of up to four players”, and the Fury LX, a racing variant of the recently added Mirai Fury snub fighter. New features include automatic cargo loading and unloading at space stations to support the Hull C’s expansive cargo capacity.
The launch trailer bigs up Star Citizen’s exploration, saying players can travel “seamlessly across worlds”. As you’d expect, fans have taken that as CIG making a point of comparison between its game and Bethesda’s recently released Starfield, which does not feature seamless space travel.
Star Citizen crowdfunding began back in 2012 and now, over a decade later, is considered one of the most controversial projects in all video games. Over the years Star Citizen has been called many things, including a scam by those who wonder whether it will ever properly launch. Its virtual space ships, some of which cost hundreds of dollars, are often the focus of criticism. (The MISC Hull C added with the Alpha 3.20 update costs an eye-watering $500).
What cannot be denied is the huge amount of money so far raised by Star Citizen, which developer Cloud Imperium Games displays on its website. At the time of this article’s publication, Star Citizen had raised $604,183,210 from just over 4.8 million backers.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
