Today, Cloud Imperium Games released another update for its growing space simulator Star Citizen, numbered 4.2.1 and titled “Race for Stanton.”
The big headline feature of the patch is the Resource Drive special event, which will last only until the next major patch.
It lets you side with one of the megacorporations governing the Stanton system (Arcorp, Microtech, Crusader Industries, and Hurston Dynamics), and you can secure resources for them in order to continue the Regen Crysis storyline.
These resources can be conquered via a variety of mission types which including combat (both space combat and on foot), escorts, recovery, mining, and more.
The more you manage to acquire and deliver, the more you’ll progress throughout 5 tiers of rewards. They are as follows.
- Tier 1: Falston jumpsuit, hat, and a Greycat Pyro RYT Multi-Tool
- Tier 2: Greycat Strata armor and a VOLT Pulse laser pistol
- Tier 3: Liveries for the RSI Aurora, Zeus MK II, and Crusader Spirit, plus a VOLT Prism laser shotgun
- Tier 4: Liveries for the Argo RAFT, MISC Freelancer, and RSI Constellation, plus a VOLT Quartz energy SMG
- Tier 5: Liveries for the MISC Starlancer, Drake Caterpillar, and Crusader Hercules Starlifter, plus a VOLT Parallax energy assault rifle
All of the rewards above have four versions, branded by each corporation.
Only the winning corporation will also grant its supporters a special Strata Black Armor.
That being said, you’re not actually locked into a faction. You can complete the event for all four and get all the rewards, besides the black armor, only one will be issued for the winning corp.
If you want to learn more details about the update, you can check out the full patch notes.
CIG also released a more extensive video showcasing the content of the patch and the reward, with additional commentary by the developers. You can watch it below.
We also get a trailer of the RSI Meteor, the medium fighter announced a few days ago and released with the update today.
If you’re unfamiliar with Star Citizen, it’s a PC exclusive, crowdfunded project directed by Chris Roberts of Wing Commander fame. It’s a multiplayer sandbox space simulator that has been in development for over a decade and in alpha for several years.
In the meantime, the crowdfunding total continues to grow, and it has recently passed $848 million. To be precise, it’s currently at $848,322,564. The game also has 5,795,396 registered users, albeit not all of them are paying customers. Many simply create an account to enjoy the free-to-play periods like the one that recently ended.
A single-player campaign titled Squadron 42 is also in active development with a 2026 release window, starring an exceptional cast of famous actors, including Mark Hamill, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, Liam Cunningham, Gillian Anderson, and more.
Since the project has been in development for over a decade, you can see how Squadron 42 has evolved since its first reveal.
Full disclosure: the author of this article has backed Star Citizen’s crowdfunding campaign.
