14 DAY TRIAL // Chris Roberts, the leader of development on Star Citizen, believes that the existence of home consoles is holding back the development of core PC games because the various teams are no longer pushing the platform to do new things.
The creator of the Wing Commander series tells PC Gamer that, “Because I’m not worrying about current day consoles, there’s a level of detail I can do that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. Just the memory it would take to store these textures – you just don’t have that on the consoles.”
The biggest advantages of the PC include the fact that it’s open and can be used without paying the platform holder and the constant evolution of the hardware.
Roberts added, “I made my name on the PC and I’m really sad that the PC isn’t being pushed the way it used to: I want to get back to that Wing Commander thing: ‘Yeah, upgrade your machine to play this.’ I don’t want to make a mobile game. I made my name doing PC games, and I love PC games.”
Recently, the PC gaming world has seen a revival as more developers see the advantages of the platform, including more hardware power and the new free-to-play business model.
Star Citizen is a game that seeks to revive the space-based simulation genre, allowing the player to take control of a ship and then explore and fight in a universe which includes plenty of factions and corporations.
The game will be heavily influenced by real-world physics and gamers will have full control over the customization of their ship, will be able to choose where they focus their resources and how they approach the various tactical situations.
Star Citizen is set to arrive on the PC during 2014.
The game is being funded via a new Kickstarter effort and fans can also contribute through the official website.