Star Citizen, the space sim from legendary game developer, Chris Roberts, today set a new record for a crowd funded game as pledge totals reached $6.23 million and the game’s Kickstarter campaign came to a close.

Star Citizen is currently under development by Roberts’ new game company, Cloud Imperium, which has offices in Los Angeles; Austin, Texas and Montreal, Canada. An early alpha play test for backers of the project should be available next winter.

The previous crowd funding record for a game had been held by Obsidian Entertainment’s Project Eternity title. An October 17th posting on the Project Eternity Kickstarter website listed a total of $4.16 million in pledges and funds raised.

Today marked the end of the Star Citizen’s Kickstarter campaign, which reached $2.13 million in pledges, more than 400 percent of the original goal of $500,000. Roberts also has been raising funds on his own site. That site has reached $4.1 million in pledges. In all there are nearly 90 thousand people who have signed on and pledged to back the product.

“I am absolutely elated by the incredible outpouring of support for this project,” said Roberts. “It’s clear that space sim fans have just been waiting for a game like ours to come along and rekindle some of the excitement that’s been missing from PC games and the space sim genre. With the resources that our fans have provided, it means the team will be able to provide more features in Star Citizen and deliver an even better game.”

For Roberts, Star Citizen, signals his return to gaming after more than 10 years in the Hollywood film industry. He made his mark in the games industry with several hit franchises in the 1990s including Wing Commander, Privateer and Freelancer. All of those games were successful PC titles that continually broke new ground with space combat games. That’s something Roberts says is currently missing from PC gamers’ plates.

“I’ve been looking for an opportunity to jump back into gaming,” said Roberts. “With all the tools and tech currently available, I can now make a game that really provides gamers with cutting-edge visuals, a highly detailed, immersive world and visceral, heart-pounding combat that only the PC can provide. In fact, PC gamers don’t need to take a back seat to any other platform. With Star Citizen, I want them to be able to stand up, be counted and completely enjoy all that their PC can deliver.”

Going forward, Roberts says, people who backed the project during the crowd funding campaign will have the ability to purchase further tiers or upgrade existing ones at the initial prices. And for those who missed this opportunity, there is still a chance to be a part of the Star Citizen community and back the project but at slightly higher prices. Roberts says it will still be cheaper than purchasing the final product when it is released and it will enable backers to reserve a limited amount of alpha and beta slots that remain. Behind-the-scenes subscription updates during development are also available for purchase. They will provide even more extras and inside info for those who sign up.

To register and become a backer of the game and for more information about Star Citizen, including videos and trailers of the game, regular communications from Roberts to fans, community forums and game fiction go to www.robertsspaceindustries.com.

Chris Roberts, who helped define the space sim genre in computer games during the 1990s with his Wing Commander and Privateer franchises, is back in the cockpit again with a new title he says will change the way people perceive games for the PC and will breathe new life into space combat games.

The new game, Star Citizen, was officially announced today at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) Online taking place at the Austin Convention Center. The game is being developed by Roberts’ Cloud Imperium Games studio, located in Los Angeles.

Roberts’ re-entry into gaming comes after he spent more than a decade as a director and producer in the Hollywood film industry. In 1990, he introduced Wing Commander to the world of PC gaming and the franchise went on to sell millions of units and spawned multiple sequels, a feature film and another highly successful game franchise, Privateer.

Star Citizen, already 12 months into production, will be launched on the PC and will include all the Chris Roberts hallmarks that fans of his games have come to expect over the years: high quality cutting-edge visuals and technology, a virtual world that is immersive and detailed, a sophisticated storyline that is wide in scope and visceral, heart-pounding space combat.

“In recent years, game designers have stopped innovating and pushing the boundaries of what you can do in this genre,” says Roberts. “I plan on bringing that kind of development mentality back into PC gaming and space sims in particular.

“There is a lot of noise out there regarding social and mobile games right now, and I think PC gamers are feeling a little left out of the mix. But the PC is still incredibly capable of presenting an experience that doesn’t take a back seat to any other platform out there, including consoles. With my game, I want PC gamers to stand up, be counted and get excited again about all the great experiences their computer can deliver.”

At GDC Online Roberts also announced a program to bring his devotees and other interested parties much closer to the development process. A crowd funding site has been posted at robertsspaceindustries.com to help raise the necessary funds for completing development of the project.

“Our purpose today,” said Roberts, “is to allow our fans to join us in this process early. It will likely be another two years before the full product is ready for release, but early backers will be able to play a version of the game a year from now."

“We are taking this approach to fund-raising for several reasons,” said Roberts. “For one, this route takes the traditional game publisher out of the mix and enables us to take the millions of dollars normally used by publishers for a triple-A title and plow them right back into developing the game. Secondly, using our own crowd funding mechanism allows us to reach out to our international fans, who have been devoted followers of my games in the past. Thirdly, going direct gets us much closer to our fans and allows us to focus more on the community side, create more updates for our fans and directly interact with them as we are making the game.”

Star Citizen, still in early development stages, will not require a subscription, but will not be free-to-play either. Roberts says the game will be available for a one-time purchase. And while players will be able to play in the Star Citizen universe for free, there will also be virtual items available for purchase with in-game credits so players can customize their ships and other items.