Why it matters: After being in development for six years, Star Citizen has raised close to $200 million through crowdfunding. After all that time and with the space sim still lacking a launch date, one might imagine that the cash flow had slowed down, but since the release of the Squadron 42 trailer and alpha 3.3 last week, Chris Roberts' ambitious game has brought in an extra $1 million.
The trailer for the single-player campaign element of Star Citizen arrived alongside the start of the CitizenCon fan convention, bringing renewed interest in the game. Many liked what they saw; the clip showed off the slew of stars in the game: Gillian Anderson, Mark Hamill, Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, John Rhys Davies, Liam Cunningham, Ben Mendelsohn, and the soon-to-be Geralt of Rivia---Henry Cavill.
Additionally, a number of new virtual spaceships---the area where Star Citizen makes most of its income---went on sale, and alpha 3.3 was rolled out to public test servers. All of which saw developer Cloud Imperium Games bring in $380,000 in one day. Another $325,000 arrived on Thursday, followed by around $190,000 on both Friday and Saturday.
According to Roberts Space Industries' crowdfunding timeline, 'just' $171,582 arrived across the entire previous week. With total funding now standing at just over $195 million, the game's expected to break the $200 million barrier by the end of the year.
One of the new spaceships revealed last week was the Anvil Valkyrie dropship. The 5-crew vessel starts at almost $400 and reaches $840 when bought with all the extras. There's also the Kraken capital ship, which has a crew capacity of ten. There's no pricing available yet---anyone who wants one has to register their interest.
The alpha 3.3 update also added face and voice over internet protocol (FoIP) to Star Citizen. It lets players control their in-game character's facial expressions with their own using a webcam. Check it out in the video below.