14 DAY TRIAL // Cloud Imperium Games has just revealed the release date for the dogfighting module in the upcoming space opera sim Star Citizen, coming to the game's backers on May 29.
The latest weekly update from the developer has delivered the news regarding the much anticipated feature in Star Citizen, dubbed Arena Commander, along with an outline of what's coming in the next two weeks.
This is, beyond doubt, one of the most exciting announcements in a while, as everyone has been eagerly waiting for the DFM to go live.
The developer previously revealed that, although everyone would gain access to the single-player component of Star Citizen, the multiplayer version of dogfighting would be rolled out gradually to the game's backers, in the order of their citizen numbers.
As such, every backer will gain access to the Free Flight and Vanduul Swarm game modes on May 29, and the first batch of multiplayer testers will also be able to enjoy the Arena Commander mode. The developer has noted that they will scale the multiplayer as quickly as possible, attempting to keep the module stable and patch bugs as they come up.
If you don't know what your citizen number is, you can find it out by simply hovering over MY RSI in the upper right corner of the Roberts Space Industries webpage while logged in, and clicking on your profile picture, which will take you to a page showing the number near the top (Uee Citizen Record #...).
The only ships available in Arena Commander version 0.8 will be the Hornet, Aurora and 300i. Players who don't own any of the listed ships will get a loaner spacecraft that most closely matches their individual pledge level.
The developers will also add the Avenger and the Cutlass ships later on in version 1.0, and they have stated that multiple-person ships such as the Freelancer or Constellation will be implemented a bit later, in version 2.0 of the Arena Commander mode.
Star Citizen is the most successful crowdfunding project to date, coming from the legendary designer of the Wing Commander series, Chris Roberts. After closing the deal with an impressive run during the Kickstarter campaign, developer Cloud Imperium Games has continued raising funds through their website, without showing any signs of losing momentum.
The Star Citizen website reveals that the game has currently raised close to $44 / €32 million, with pledges still coming in strong. The game is currently in early access for its backers, with the full release being scheduled for sometime during 2015.