Greetings Citizens,
As Star Citizen’s development continues, we’re finding that Chris Roberts’ time is especially important. Chris is intimately involved in every aspect of the game, from writing code himself to working on the design and the art direction. As a result, we’re planning to make several changes to the pledge packages and wanted to let you know in advance, just in case you are interested in picking up one of the changing packages.
After July 31, 2013, packages which offer things like Q&A with Chris will be changed to feature new rewards. If you already have one of these packages, nothing will change for you. You will still get your time with Chris. If you pledge after July 31, 2013 you will get the alternate reward. If you’d like to upgrade your old package to one of the new options, you can do that for free without changing your backer status.
Changes High Admiral ($1,100): the thirty minute conference call is now an Aurora LX, an ORIGIN 350r and a full set of nine campaign skins.
Grand Admiral ($2,500): the one hour conference call is now a complete set of the five limited-variant pledge ships: an Aurora LX, ORIGIN 350r and one yet-to-be-announced version each of the Freelancer, Hornet and Constellation.
Space Marshal ($5,000): the half-day with Chris Roberts is now an Idris-P corvette.
The Wing Commander packages, which are purchased in very limited numbers, will remain the same for the time being.
Future Imperator subscriptions will also change to free Chris’ time. Existing Imperators will not be affected, but everyone who subscribes after July 31, 2013 will receive a single-use 15% off coupon in the store and VIP admission to all future RSI fan events instead of the office visit and three questions. The physical Jump Point book will also only be available to Imperators who register before that date. Anyone who subscribes for a full year starting before July 31, 2013 will receive three printed books containing the first twelve issues of Jump Point (the increased size of Jump Point, averaging 45 pages instead of the planned 6, is making the printing difficult.)
We haven’t made these changes lightly. Chris loves meeting the fans and wants to find every possible way to do so. He will continue to post in the forums, to write through the Comm-Link and to attend Star Citizen-related events. This is for the good of the game. We know the original rewards would continue to attract more interest than the updated ones… but we also know the game would be worse for it. The team needs Chris working on the day-to-day development of Star Citizen. The game would be nothing without his vision, and his hands-on work is essential to the success of the project.