Star Citizen funding crosses the $200 million mark, raised by over 2 million backers

Star Citizen's crowd-funded pot of money has reached another colossal number, with Cloud Imperium Games' live tracker now displaying over 200 million dollars of funds raised by over two million backers.

Using all this capital the company has set up five studios around the world, growing to house over 500 employees since its founding in 2012, all to develop its ambitious MMO space simulator and the Squadron 42 single-player campaign.

To throw in some numbers, the game reached the $100 million mark by the end of 2015, and the $150 million mark in May 2017. The recent CitizenCon event was a major contributor for hitting the new milestone this soon as well, which brought in over a million dollars in less than a week.

The new funding milestone comes at a time when the developer is making great strides in Star Citizen's general playability. The Alpha 3.3.0 update to the game arrived last week, implementing Object Container Streaming for some impressive performance gains, while also bringing in new technologies like Face Over IP, as well as the ability to buy ships using in-game money.

The next content update, Alpha 3.3.5, is already in closed testing, and is slated to deliver the game's first full-fledged traversable planet, Hurston, as well as its moons. The busy Lorville Landing Zone that was showcased in the recent CitizenCon keynote will be implemented also.

To gather up even more prospective backers, Cloud Imperium Games will be hosting a free event that will run for an entire week soon. Starting from November 23 and running through November 30, the Free Fly event will let anyone jump into the game's persistent universe, with ships from various manufacturers being available to try for free out as well.

For those who wish to buckle in and join right now while also supporting the development, access to Star Citizen's online portion can be had by purchasing a $45 package. Meanwhile, those who also want to play the separate Squadron 42 single-player campaign when it releases can opt for a $65 package, which secures access to both halves of the project.