Space sim Star Citizen funding passes $29 million

Chris Roberts' independent crowdfunding campaign for Star Citizen has surpassed $29 million and is well on its way to the next stretch goal at the $30 million mark.

At press time, the most successful crowdfunded project in history stands at $29,810,927 from 309,035 backers. This places it much higher than the most successful Kickstarter projects.

On the official site for the project, Roberts said that he latest stretch goal will allow developer Cloud Imperium Games to add more single player (and offline) content to the game. Specifically, Roberts said that the added content will make Star Citizen a "true spiritual successor to Wing Commander! From opening with an epic battle instead of a training patrol to missions that seamlessly combine boarding and space combat, we aim to put you right into the action! Additional funding will let the team realize this, with enhanced mission design and more resources and animations to enhance fidelity."

Hitting this latest stretch goal also means that Cloud Imperium Games will add the RSI Orion to the game, a mining platform that backers have voted for previously.

Star Citizen has been in development at Cloud Imperium Games for more than a year. The game itself centers on a storyline that is set in a persistent online universe.

Roberts has said that Star Citizen will fuse elements of his previous games, Wing Commander and Freelancer. Support for the virtual-reality headset Oculus Rift is planned.

Star Citizen is expected to be released in late 2014.