Star Citizen - Not Coming to E3

[Aubrielle]

Instead of appearing at E3 this year, Chris Roberts has elected to stay at home and use the time to produce more content for Star Citizen.

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The PC Gaming show is sliding into a new time slot at E3 this year, taking over EA’s old position. The lineup has gotten a little thinner since the show was announced though, with one big participant dropping out.

Cloud Imperium Games, the studio behind Star Citizen won’t be appearing at the PC Gaming show. The developer confirmed to us that it pulled out weeks ago.

“We are not able to have Chris at the PC Gaming Show due to his commitments in the UK making the game,” a Cloud Imperium Games representative told us via email. “I informed PC Gamer of this several weeks ago. It’s important to note that we were never committed to be at E3 as an exhibitor or in any other capacity (except for the PCG show). In fact we’ve never had a booth at E3. Our focus has pretty much always been Gamescom, and it will be again this year.”

To-date, Star Citizen has raised more than $114 million via Kickstarter and an ongoing self-run crowdfunding campaign. Currently, the game is in alpha with a number of different modules in development simultaneously.

According to the official site, current playable pieces include eight open world missions with approximately 20 random encounters, a section of the first-person shooting gameplay available in a space station dedicated to that mode, and a multiplayer component with both player-versus-player and wave-based combat.

Star Citizen has the subject of much controversy, in part due to its enormous crowdfunding success and continued setbacks. In January 2015, founder Chris Roberts (Wing Commander), issued a revised timeline for the game. According to that document, Star Citizen should be releasing this year.

The first of three episodes in the single-player campaign, Squadron 42, was supposed to be out in 2015. It is now scheduled for some time in 2016.

[Source: Cloud Imperium Games via Polygon]



Our Take
Given the controversy surrounding Star Citizen, pulling out of an extremely visible stage presentation is going to make ripples amongst detractors. It also has the effect of weakening an already tepid PC Gaming Show lineup. After last year, that event needs streamlining and big beats instead of being an overlong slog. Given how late Star Citizen is, this might be the best use of Roberts' time. The game has enormous expectations to meet.

Source.

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[rjshae]

Surely they have more than one person developing content for this? Yes, me thinks they just don't want to answer certain questions...

 

[Ripper]

As the article notes, this does seem to be a questionable decision in light of all the skepticism surrounding the project. I would guess they just don't have anything significant to make a splash at the show, and don't want to strengthen the skeptics hand by showing little visible progress.

 

[Couchpotato]

Let me guess the game needs to make another $10 million dollars.

Seriously though not a F*** was given as I lost interest in this game.

 

[Aubrielle]

Has anyone played the most recent Goat Simulator DLC, Waste of Space? The whole thing seems designed around making fun of Star Citizen and the occasionally predatory nature of Kickstarter.

 

[azarhal]

This is about the PC Gaming Show at E3, Star Citizen was never intended to be at E3 proper. Last year at the PC Gaming Show Chris was allowed to say like one line, I can't blame him for not participating this year.

 

[Bedwyr]

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha

#credibilitygone

Both Garriott and Roberts have abused their status as elder statesmen of gaming society and squandered. So. Much.

I put in a small amount towards both and am actively contemptuous of them at this point. Both products are functionally vaporware. They have a social gaming development model that may work, but hardly resembles what I put money in the tin for.


The more I learn about software development, the more I wonder if strategic software planning and design is something their groups have failed at because, while they get day-to-day (or rather sprint-to-sprint) stuff right, they remain stuck in older strategic habits that are too big for the support actually coming in and the game development pipeline required of modern teams. As in, their projects would have worked if they had full publisher support and notoriety of the kind Origin once had (crowded field now) and didn't have to deal with engineering and art flows required of a modern 3D game. They're trying to ride herd on that and succeeding in the week-to-week process, but falling to earth like Slim Pickins riding the atomic bomb all the way down.

 

[ChaosTheory]

It's not coming to E3 because it's vaporware.

(runs and hides)

 

[Moriendor]

Surely they have more than one person developing content for this? Yes, me thinks they just don't want to answer certain questions…

It's definitely pretty odd. They haven't squandered a single opportunity since October 2012 to promote the game with flashy trailers and "exciting reveals" any chance they got.
In the past, they've been to PAX East, PAX AU, E3, Gamescom and held their own anniversary Citizencon on top of it all plus various livestreams or minor events etc. ... you name it!

But now that Squadron 42 is finally supposed to be getting closer (it is still officially scheduled for 2016 although everyone knows it won't make it), they are not going to E3? What? Wouldn't now be a perfect opportunity to show more and to get an even broader audience interested in the game? Now that it is finally shaping up and coming together? Why go in previous years when the game was still far, far away but not now when we're supposedly close?

I generally appreciate if they want to take it easier with all these events (they have had way too much focus on throwaway demos for reveals instead of actual development in the past IMHO) but this move is really kind of strange.
I'd love to see their real, honest internal timeline for Squadron 42 and the PU. My guesstimate is Q4/2017 for Squadron 42 and some time in the 2020s for the full PU.

 

[TheMadGamer]

This game's development has had a similar vibe to it as SoTA... but on a much grander $cale. I'm fairly certain, despite all this money, they've over promised and are doomed to under deliver.

 

[joxer]

It's not coming to E3 because it's vaporware.

(runs and hides)

MassEffect4 won't be on E3. Vaporware!

Anyway, I'm not sure why is strange not seeing Star Citizen there. Would it bring more investments? Don't think so. If it would, Chris Roberts would be announcing his presence for months now.

 

[Moriendor]

Anyway, I'm not sure why is strange not seeing Star Citizen there. Would it bring more investments? Don't think so. If it would, Chris Roberts would be announcing his presence for months now.

Well, that's what he did. There's been quite a bit of confusion over this. He's been saying that CIG would be at E3 until very recently.

But now he's all like this:

https://twitter.com/SandiGardiner/status/736238869268553729/photo/1

 

[azarhal]

Cloud Imperium Games never attended E3, they always focused on fan convention because its cheaper. The only thing CIG did is patterning with The PC Gaming Show (a 90m panel with over 10 different companies, guess how much time you have to show your stuff) last year with Chris calling via live video from England. CIG isn't going to be in the PC Gaming Show this year.

I'm not really sure why people are going all "vaporware" here.

 

[khaight]

Star Citizen has scaled up large enough and taken long enough that it will be almost impossible for it to meet expectations when it releases. Even if it's a solid, decent game, it will catch hell from some quarters. (I'm pretty sure it would get a ton of flack even if by some miracle it was the Greatest Game Evar.)

I don't have any skin in this one, so I'm just going to pop some popcorn and wait for the release fireworks. I love the smell of nerd rage in the morning...

 

[KaosWarMonk]

I agree, not a good look, more fuel for the doubters. I used to frequent a board where about half a dozen guys had ponied up hundreds of dollars on this thing. I should go back, see how they now feel about SC.

I too don't have a horse in the race so not stressed. The shit storm that's gonig to ensue if it all goes pear shaped is going to be monumental - will need an extra large box of popcorn for that (well, that is if I ate popcorn, you know what I mean).

The part of me that's interested in seeing games that push the envelop does want is to succeed though. If nothing than to just lift the bar a bit.


-kwm

 

[Deleted User]

How much money is needed to develop a decent game? At this point they're probably planning real space trips to study what space looks like up close.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

How much money is needed to develop a decent game? At this point they're probably planning real space trips to study what space looks like up close.

Well, as of Dec. of 2015, Star Citizen had raised about $102 million. Richard Garriott, fellow questionable developer and Kickstarter buddy of Roberts', paid about $30 million for his jaunt into orbit. While I hate citing Kotaku about anything, their story says a big game can cost about $60 million.

So, yeah, Roberts could swing a trip into space to check out the void for himself.

 

[Deleted User]

Haha!

$102 million, my god. How are they spending that money? Just bringing in new hires or outsourcing work, etc.?

I'm more of a "small, focused team" guy when it comes to RPG development. I'm sure they are probably really splurging on outsourcing certain jobs, etc.

Is any of that truly necessary? Well, we'll see when the game comes out, I guess.

 

[mercy]

Haha!

$102 million, my god. How are they spending that money? Just bringing in new hires or outsourcing work, etc.?

By existing employees bringing in their crap-skilled game developer friends, who are good for nothing and ruining the project, __while__ really good powerful developers fleeing the project in droves, thus what Star Citizen is really struggling with is constant brain-loss. Talented developers leaving their work unfinished there and nobody is experienced enough to finish.

That's why Star Citizen slowly was sinking into mud since their first little [admittedly smelly] studio, since the first funny guy doing those "Making Of" videos, who stopped doing them and the fun just went away with him, since they moved to bigger and bigger studios and lost control and since those amazing REVEAL videos - i dunno - stopped? Really lost interest after seeing their inept execution in 3D….

Remember the guy who bought like 60 ships - imagine the money he spent on this - and imagine how much money gullible people spent on giving to this project.. all that loss of grocery money for the family convincing the wife [or Grandma] of the amazingness of this "game" - money sinkhole -

This game should be sunk into a series of serious lawsuits re-distributing the money back to donors and all the leaders imprisoned for embellishment and squandering money: so they learn the consequences of bamboozling people into Ponzi schemes and not delivering the product.

 

[Maylander]

By existing employees bringing in their crap-skilled game developer friends, who are good for nothing and ruining the project, __while__ really good powerful developers fleeing the project in droves, thus what Star Citizen is really struggling with is constant brain-loss. Talented developers leaving their work unfinished there and nobody is experienced enough to finish.

That's why Star Citizen slowly was sinking into mud since their first little [admittedly smelly] studio, since the first funny guy doing those "Making Of" videos, who stopped doing them and the fun just went away with him, since they moved to bigger and bigger studios and lost control and since those amazing REVEAL videos - i dunno - stopped? Really lost interest after seeing their inept execution in 3D….

Do you know that, or are you just guessing? Top dollar usually also means the ability to hire at the top shelf, if the company in question is willing to spend.