Ben Gibson 
The controversial Star Citizen has reportedly become the most expensive game ever made, with the Roberts Space Industries funding tracker showing over $300m raised (as of 15/06/20). Production costs for video games are not always entirely accurate or reliable (or even known), but of the known figures or estimates, this would put the title’s crowdfunding figure as higher than the cost of any other video game ever produced, even adjusting for inflation.
The $300m figure is purely through crowdfunding, and does not include additional private funding. The game secured a $46m investment at the end of 2018, and another $17.25m earlier this year (credit to Kitguru and gamesindustry.biz for the sources), which brings the total up to an estimated $363m. It’s also notable that this figure is still climbing, and according to the tracker, at an alarming rate. Star Citizen has raised at least $4m USD each month of 2020, and over $15m in May alone. Week 23 and 24 have raised approximately $5m when combined.
Star Citizen’s 3.9 Alpha version is live to anyone who buys a starter pack, and according to the Roadmap, the singleplayer portion of the game known as Squadron 42 will hit beta in Q3 of this year.
