Star Citizen has raised $1 billion and counting.

It's another victory lap for Star Citizen, a game that isn't out of early access yet. Gorgeous and expansive space epics are good at raising money and have crossed the multi-billion dollar threshold. The celebration begins. I don't think anyone regrets donating. Not once.

The world's most popular fundraising game has reached $1 billion and hasn't been released yet.

This news is being reported today, although not through official channels. The developers didn't mark that event, at least as far as I can tell. Perhaps because they knew there would be a flood of negative articles as a result. (Believe it or not, we're trying to be as fair as possible! Some people are truly enjoying this early access video game!)

But people do know that as of May 24, 2026, it has currently reached $1,001,195.396. The most recent stretch goal is $250 million for the 14-year-old. Suffice it to say that Star Citizen strayed from its traditional goals a long time ago. Instead, the game adds features, releases over and over again, and has essentially adopted the world's first and only long-term live service non-release model.

These vessels are sometimes offered at actual cost. I'll mention the $5,900 USD version, the Odin Battlecruiser. But for the sake of fairness, I'll note that this is much higher than the average price. And there are plenty of ships that don't require real currency. Likewise, I don't think anyone can be blamed for feeling bad about a game that doesn't a.). b.) Raised $1 billion. c.) They are charging more money for every vessel.

The Internet is full of… comment. ResetEra has some serious questions about whether the player base enjoys CIG's Star Citizen for what it is, and it's a valid question. The rest are accusatory, inflammatory, and often… impartial. There's also this: “If anything, the Star Citizen thread is a good magnet for people to get really upset about their spending habits for something they enjoy.” To be honest… that's fair.