Star Citizen raises over $800 million, may become the world’s first $1 billion video game

Video games are expensive to make, but budgets for big games are some of the closely guarded secrets in the industry.

However, several leaks and court filings reveal that game studios often spend hundreds of millions of dollars on AAA titles like GTA V, Cyberpunk 2077 and others.

Recently, a court filing revealed that Activision spent over $700 million on Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War. However, Star Citizen, one of the most anticipated and ambitious games till date, may soon cross the $1 billion mark.

At the time of writing, the game maker revealed on its website that it has already received more than $802 million in funding, making it the most expensive game in the world.

Developed by Cloud Imperion Games, Star Citizen is an open world first person space shooter and MMORPG game announced back in 2012 with the aim of creating a universe so big that players would “forget it’s a game.”

Spread across the universe, players can either engage in a single player mode or enjoy and roam around with friends.

The game has four playable modes called modules, which offer widely different gameplay experiences with some common mechanics.

When the company started Star Citizen crowdfunding back in 2012, the studio hinted that the game might be launched in 2014. However, as development progressed, the game makers faced several challenges, delaying the game’s launch.

Finally, in 2017, the developers released Star Citizen in early access. And while the game does receive frequent updates, fast forward to 2025, and the game is still stuck in the early access program with no release date in sight.