The Most Funded
Game Ever Made
Over $1 billion raised from more than 6.5 million backers. One ambitious space sim that quietly broke every crowdfunding record in human history. This is the story of Star Citizen.
The Anvil Odin — the largest ship in the game, and the last concept ship ever announced — crossed the line. Star Citizen is now the only crowdfunded project in any category to raise one billion dollars.
The full story of how $1 billion happened →A record nobody saw coming.
Star Citizen launched a Kickstarter in 2012 asking for $500,000. It hit that goal in under 24 hours. More than a decade later, the funding hasn’t stopped — and no other crowdfunded project, in any category, has come close.
Cumulative funding, year by year
Read the full story →An online universe, built in public, one milestone at a time.
Star Citizen is a first-person space simulation game in development by Cloud Imperium Games. Players fly customizable ships, walk around planets and stations, trade goods, mine asteroids, fight pirates, and form crews — all inside a single shared universe with no separate server lobbies.
It’s ambitious in a way few games attempt: seamless transitions from a planet’s surface into orbit and out to other star systems, with no loading screens. Millions of players have bought into that vision early, funding development directly through ship pledges instead of waiting for a traditional release.
That funding model is why this site exists. It’s also why you may have searched “most funded game ever” and ended up here.
Three reasons the money keeps coming.
The community
The Star Citizen community is one of the most engaged in gaming. Backers run org events, fly together nightly, build creator content, and treat new players with surprising patience. It feels less like a customer base and more like a frontier town.
The vision
Star Citizen aims to merge a space sim, an FPS, an MMO, and an economy game into a single seamless universe. People back the project not because it’s done, but because they want it to exist — and they trust they’re helping build it.
The scope
You can fly to a moon, land on it, get out of your ship, walk into a cave, and never see a loading screen. That kind of fidelity is rare in any game — and players reward it. Each new system, ship, or feature pulls the next wave of pledges.
Three doors in. One of them is free.
Free Fly Events
Several times a year, Star Citizen runs Free Fly events where anyone can download and play a rotating set of ships at no cost. No purchase, no commitment — the easiest way to see what the fuss is about.
Starter Pack
A starter pack gets you a permanent account, a starter ship, and access to the persistent universe. The two most common options are the Aurora MR and the Mustang Alpha, both around a one-time $45.
Referral Code
Sign up using a referral code and you get 50,000 UEC (in-game credits) free, plus entry into the official referral rewards program. Use the button below to apply our code automatically.
Learn the basics in plain English.
dayonecitizen.com is the friendly hub of the network — built for anyone who’s curious about Star Citizen but tired of dense wiki pages, jargon, and forum gatekeeping.
Ready to play the most funded game in history? Start with the Day One guide — written for players who have never launched a ship.
The questions everyone asks.
What is the most funded game ever?
Star Citizen. The space sim has raised over $1 billion from more than 6.5 million backer accounts since its 2012 Kickstarter, crossing the billion-dollar mark on May 24, 2026. No other crowdfunded project of any kind comes close.
How much money has Star Citizen raised?
Over $1 billion as of May 24, 2026, from more than 6.5 million backer accounts — tracked live on the official RSI funding page, which updates as new pledges arrive.
How is Star Citizen funded?
Entirely through crowdfunding. Players pledge for ship packages and game access on the RSI store. It started with a $500,000 Kickstarter ask by Chris Roberts in October 2012 and has continued for fourteen years.
Is Star Citizen actually released?
It is playable today as a live alpha — the game has been in open development since 2012. Its single-player campaign, Squadron 42, is a separate title targeting a 2026 release.
Where these numbers come from
Every factual claim on this page is verified against official Cloud Imperium Games sources. Dates and figures are checked against the primary RSI Comm-Link or page linked below — not third-party trackers.
The Star Citizen crowdfunding campaign launched October 2012, but public alpha testing did not begin until later (Hangar Module 2013, Arena Commander 2014) — 'in open development since 2012' is accurate, 'in public alpha since 2012' is not.
Star Citizen crossed $1 billion in total funding raised on May 24, 2026, from over 6.5 million backer accounts.
CIG announced a 2026 launch window for Squadron 42 at CitizenCon 2954 (October 2024).
Squadron 42 is a separate, not-yet-released single-player title; the live Star Citizen PU has no dedicated single-player campaign mode.