Star Citizen gets $27,000 ship bundle

Long-delayed space-'em-up Star Citizen has launched another bundle pack, and it's sure to raise eyebrows: the $27,000 Legatus Pack, visible only to those whales who have already sunk $1,000 or more into the still-alpha-status title.

Unveiled by gaming industry veteran Chris Roberts in 2012 as a single-player spiritual successor to Wing Commander and Freelancer, Star Citizen has since suffered from extreme feature bloat: Despite - or, realistically, entirely because of - having ventured far, far beyond its modest funding goals, the game sailed past its November 2014 launch date and now, approaching four years after the game should have come out, has split into two: The massively multiplayer Star Citizen and all-star-cast single-player Squadron 42, neither of which is available in any form beyond an extremely limited and sorely unoptimised partial alpha build.

The funds raised so far, though, appear to be insufficient to finish the game - despite being on track for having raised $200 million total by the end of the year. As a result, Roberts and colleagues are looking to get serious cash from the game's whales - players who have already invested considerable money into the alpha - with the launch of a $27,000 ship bundle.

First spotted by MMO Pulse, the Legatus Pack is hidden from public view and only visible to players who have invested $1,000 or more in the title so far. For an additional $27,000, players gain access to 117 virtual ships and 163 additional upgrades and other in-game items - theoretically, at least, given that many of the listed goodies don't yet exist in a playable state. Buyers also receive game-related content, such as a copy of the single-player Squadron 42, a copy of the game's soundtrack, a novella, star map, engineering manual, making of book, and other ephemera - all of which is provided exclusively digitally, not physically.

The bundle is live now on the official website, but those not logged in with an account that has more than $1,000 on record will receive a 404 error in its place. Neither Star Citizen nor Squadron 42, meanwhile, have a launch date.