Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts shows off Star Citizen and the new way to fund triple-A games (interview)

LOS ANGELES — Chris Roberts has been making space-combat simulation games for decades: Wing Commander, Privateer, Strike Commander, and Freelancer. After a diversion to Hollywood, he stormed back in 2012 with Star Citizen, a new sci-fi space combat and exploration game.

When we first wrote about Star Citizen, it was little more than a cool demo. But it used the CryEngine game engine and had beautiful 3D art. Fans flocked to it because of the ambition of the vision that Roberts had to build a full universe. Through crowdfunding, Star Citizen has raised almost $46 million from more than 400,000 fans. Now, Roberts Space Industries is showing off demos of playable space combat game, Arena Commander, where you can learn how to fight.