Summary
- Star Citizen has banned hundreds of accounts due to cheating complaints, aiming to maintain a fair and balanced in-game economy.
- The ambitious game has raised an impressive $644 million in player contributions, breaking records with its crowdfunding success.
Star Citizen, the always-in-alpha space trading and combat sim being developed by Cloud Imperium Games, has banned hundreds of accounts after an increase in cheating complaints. Despite the criticism the game has received in the 12 years since it was first announced, Star Citizen and CIG have experienced almost nothing but success, attracting gamers eager to lose themselves in its deep and persistent world.
The ambitious space simulator has been breaking records since the very beginning, raising $15 million in crowdfunding within a year of launching its Kickstarter campaign. A year later, Guinness World Records recognized Star Citizen’s nearly $40 million crowdfunding milestone, and that number has only ballooned exponentially. Most recently, Star Citizen broke its own record by fundraising $3.5 million in a single day, bringing total player contributions to an impressive $644 million.
Cloud Imperium’s project is viewed by many as a game targeted at whales with fat wallets and not necessarily the average person. As an example, Star Citizen recently released a ship bundle that cost $48,000, though most items are sold for much cheaper. Despite the fact that players can legitimately buy many in-game items with real money, however, it seems that some still feel the urge to use exploits to acquire Star Citizen's in-game currency, Alpha United Earth Credits (aUEC). Cloud Imperium revealed on June 14 that it had banned over 600 accounts for cheating and "illicitly gaining" aUEC. The excess currency has also been removed from the game.
Star Citizen Cheaters Used Exploits to Get aUEC
Alpha United Earth Credits are used to buy weapons, shields, vehicles, and other items in the game. As with many MMOs, the quest for an easy way to earn aUEC in Star Citizen has led to people finding exploits to illegitimately obtain the credits and a black market of websites selling the virtual currency. This influx of ill-gotten gains has negatively impacted the in-game economy, inevitably leading to player displeasure and complaints. Though CIG didn’t provide many details, the community largely assumes that the banned players were selling their unfairly acquired aUEC for real money.
Star Citizen’s persistent world has an estimated 22 million players, the majority of whom have worked hard to fairly acquire their in-game items and status. Like in the real world, an uncontrolled flood of currency can upset the balance of the economy and undermine the value of players’ legitimately obtained possessions. CIG pointed out that, as Star Citizen is still in development, exploits and other problems are expected to occur, but will not be tolerated. The announcement concluded by thanking the community for flagging issues and reporting the unacceptable behavior.
Star Citizen
- Developer(s)
- Cloud Imperium Games Corporation
WHERE TO PLAY
Star Citizen gives you unlimited run of the Stanton system, a vast sandbox of life-size planets, moons, cities, space stations, asteroid belts, and more. With unmatched beauty, diversity, and danger in equal measure, you never know what's waiting for you when you take flight.
You can be whoever you want and explore the stars on your own terms. You can mine ore, haul cargo, salvage space wrecks, hunt bounties, become a mercenary, or even take up a life of crime. Fly and drive a vast variety of vehicles and play how you want to play - the possibilities are endless.
How you deal with danger is up to you -- stay safe in the regulated sectors of the system, arm up and tackle threats head-on, or turn to a perilous life of crime and get your cut of the action. Stanton's booming black market offers opportunities to earn a crooked living if a hard day's work isn't for you.
Star Citizen is currently in the "Alpha" stage of development, with each update adding new features, technology, and gameplay to grow and evolve with players.
- Publisher(s)
- Cloud Imperium Games Corporation
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Shooter, Simulation
