Star Citizen has finally released Alpha 4.0 “after a much longer than expected development process.”

Star Citizen has finally reached Alpha 4.0 after its lead developer Chris Roberts admitted it was “a much longer than expected development process.”

Cloud Imperium Games’ space simulation is considered one of the most controversial projects in all of video games. In the 12 years since it began crowdfunding, Star Citizen has often been called a scam, including a scam, by those who wonder whether it will ever really take off. His virtual spaceships, some of which cost hundreds of dollars, are often the focus of criticism.

In fact, according to CIG, Star Citizen has now raised a staggering $767 million. The developer makes the earnings in his account publicly available website. CIG calls this money “collected funds.”

In March this year CIG started talking about the launch of Star Citizen 1.0 being on the horizonalthough there is no release window for it yet. 1.0, says Roberts, “is what we believe to be the features and content that constitute a ‘commercial’ release.”

In a letter from the CEO, Roberts said: “A long time ago, lost in the mists of pre-COVID time, at CitizenCon 2949 we introduced the first in-game prototype that travels from the Stanton System to the Pyro System via a jump point.”

“After a much longer than expected development process, what was announced in 2019 will become a reality for all players when we release Star Citizen Alpha 4.0 to the live servers as part of what we call 4.0 Preview.”

Star Citizen Alpha 4.0 brings a complete deletion and reset of all accounts. All players start fresh with their account hangars and wallets +20,000 aUEC (Alpha United Earth Credits, Star Citizen’s virtual currency used during the Alpha phase). Key new additions include Pyro, the second star system added to the Star Citizen universe, the first jump point in the persistent universe, the connection of the Stanton and Pyro systems, an economic overhaul, and much more. Check out the patch notes on the Roberts Space Industries website.

In October, CIG said this Season 42the standalone single-player story game set in the Star Citizen universe, will be released sometime in 2026, which, if it makes that release window, would be an incredible 14 years after CIG first launched Star Citizen’s crowdfunding campaign.

Roberts, known for developing the Wing Commander series, said Squadron 42 will provide 30 to 40 hours of gameplay. The film stars Gillian Anderson, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman and Mark Strong.

Wesley is the UK news editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].