Huge Star Citizen 4.0 update adds new system and allows 500 people to play on one server

After 11 years and more than $750 million, we finally did it Star Citizen 4.0. Cloud Imperium’s massive space MMO and spiritual game compared to No Man’s Sky, Eve Online, Elite Dangerous and Starfield is now literally bigger than ever. The lawless new Pyro system is online and ready for exploration. To bring us closer to the dream of the Star Citizen persistent universe, server networking now allows 500 players to fly, fight and search for cosmic treasures in the same world. However, this isn’t quite the full version of 4.0 – Cloud Imperium says it still wants to make a few more improvements to the new alpha.

Since Star Citizen’s first playable modules launched in 2013, the space MMO has been gradually working towards a grand vision: a gigantic universe made up of different solar systems that all players can enter and experience at the same time. 4.0 is the next step towards the finished version of the game.

First and foremost, it introduces Pyro, a separate system from the existing Stanton that players can access via preset “jump points.” Jumping to Pyro is a challenge in itself – without proper preparations and ship defenses, your ship could break apart during the journey, or the other side of the intergalactic portal could spit you out light years from your destination. And even if you reach Pyro, you have to be careful.

The new system represents a kind of Wild West frontier. Pyro Amalgamated, the mega-corporation that once plundered and controlled the zone of the same name, has long since disappeared. In his wake, dozens of abandoned excavation sites, space stations and installations remain to be explored and looted. But in the remote areas of Pyro there is no law. They are off the leash and have no weapons – every pilot is for himself. Across six new planets, six new moons and a number of asteroid bases, plenty of bandits, marauders and loot-hungry enemies await you.

Speaking of which: Star Citizen 4.0 also announces the introduction of server meshing. Previously, each Star Citizen server could accommodate a maximum of 100 players. This number has increased significantly to 500. We haven’t arrived in the persistent universe yet, but we’re getting closer.

While Star Citizen 4.0 is currently available to try out, Alpha 3.24.3 is also still available – when you log in you can choose which build you want to access via the launcher. “Alpha 3.24.3 remains available so people can play the missions and engage in gameplay loops that will continue to be reworked in 4.0,” says Cloud Imperium. “By running both builds in the live environment, we can take steps to ensure your progress is carried forward. Our goal is for everything you do and earn in the 4.0 preview to remain in place without further deletions.”

Star Citizen recently reached a new funding record, raising more than $750 million in donations since its inception. A new look at Squadron 42’s long-awaited single-player campaign was also recently shared.

You might want to try some of the other best space games or perhaps the best simulation games available on PC.

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