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An Incomplete Sci-Fi Video Game Has Now Made Nearly A Billion Dollars

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published

Entertainment budgets today are astronomical, which is why, when Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts wanted to create his dream game, Star Citizen, he turned to crowdfunding. The gamble has paid off, as 13 years later, the total amount pledged for the development of his magnum opus has topped $933 million.

There is no way any studio would have ever agreed to spend over a decade and nearly a billion dollars on one game, which makes this a wild success story about believing in yourself. Making it even more impressive is that the game’s not even finished. 

The Biggest Video Game Ever Made

Once completed Star Citizen will let players explore a massive sci-fi universe where they pilot their own massive capital ships, or smaller, more nimble explorers, to engage in trade, warfare, subterfuge, or anything else that their hearts desire. Every few years, a developer promises a grand sci-fi game of this caliber, and though No Man’s Sky is still around and kicking, nothing has ever been developed at this scale before. For sci-fi fans who have dreamed of piloting the Battlestar Galactica or spending time on a gigantic Babylon 5/Deep Space Nine-style space station, this has been the Holy Grail since the dawn of computing. 

Star Citizen is playable right now (well, sort of, patch 4.5 introduced a lot of inventory-related bugs), and it looks absolutely gorgeous. It’s easy to spend hours in the Hanger mode exploring ships and debating if you should get a mortgage to afford the ship of your dreams. You can pay for ships with in-game currency or by using cold, hard cash. That helps explain why gamers have spent over $933 million in support of Roberts’ vision, no matter how long it takes. 

A Billion Dollars And Still Not Done

Over the last 13 years of development, Star Citizen has gone through ups and downs. Players never know what the next patch will break, or when the latest promised feature is going to arrive. For example, Squadron 42, a single-player spin-off, was announced in 2014, and now, 12 years later, it’s finally completed. That’s still better than the promised science gameplay, which is nowhere to be found, along with base building, and alien races, among dozens and dozens of other features. 

Star Citizen isn’t a complete game, which is why the studio got in trouble with the European Union for not making it clear in advertising that some of the ships are available in the Hangar mode, but are not yet playable in the persistent mode, or in some cases, they don’t exist. What is in the game right now looks amazing, and when everything comes together, it can be fun… for a few hours. As amazing as it looks, and as fun as it can be, you’d think $933 million would have resulted in a complete game after 13 years. 

At its current pace, Star Citizen will clear $1 billion in funding in early 2027 and still be considered a disappointment. There’s been nothing this successful in the history of crowdfunding, but how much of that is profit and how much has been burned developing the greatest sci-fi game of all time (once it’s done… if it’s done) remains unknown. Sci-fi fans are used to disappointment, but we are finally getting a Stargate reboot, Star Wars is coming back to theaters, and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is finally here, so maybe, just maybe, Chris Roberts grand vision will be here before we know it. 


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Entertainment

This $10 upgrade transforms your PC — but it’s only on sale until midnight

TL;DR: Upgrade a PC affordably with this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license, on sale for just $9.97 (reg. $199) through tonight at midnight.


Want to get the feeling of a new computer without having to shell out all the money for one? A new operating system gives your device a whole new feel, and if you’ve got a PC lying around, it could probably use this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro upgrade. If you act fast, you can get it for only $9.97 through tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Windows 11 Pro breathes new life into an old computer, extending its lifespan for less than the cost of your lunch. Unlike older operating systems, this one was made with the modern professional in mind.

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Rest easy knowing Windows 11 Pro is filled with features that can improve your workflow — from an easy-to-use interface that enhances usability to snap layouts, seamless redocking, a more powerful search experience, and improved voice typing.

Take advantage of unique professional tools like Azure AD, Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, and BitLocker device encryption. Then take a break and check out the impressive gaming experience offered by DirectX 12 Ultimate graphics.

Windows 11 Pro includes Copilot, Microsoft’s very own AI-powered assistant, which can assist you with a wide range of tasks. Get some help kickstarting your writing process, summarizing web pages, changing your settings, or even opening your apps.

You can also enjoy improved cybersecurity with Windows 11 Pro, as it adds biometric logins, encrypted authentication, and enhanced antivirus protection.

Get your PC a Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license for only $9.97 tonight through midnight.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

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3 AdultFriendFinder red flags — how to avoid scams on AFF

Depending on who you ask, AdultFriendFinder is either the Wild West of hookup sites, an “anything goes” paradise for adult fun, or a total scam replete with bots, fake profiles, and inactive accounts. 

After months of personal testing, I can confidently say which AFF you experience ultimately boils down to how you use the site. If you approach it naively, without a strategy, you’re probably going to have some frustrating experiences. On the other hand, if you exercise a modicum of caution and common sense, you’ll discover a huge, fun, and kink-friendly community.

Here are three red flags to look out for as you use AFF, to help you spot potential scammers and separate the authentic users from the fake profiles.

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AdultFriendFinder


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Tinder


top pick for finding hookups


Hinge


popular choice for regular meetups

Credit: AdultFriendFinder

Unverified accounts

AdultFriendFinder already offers a fantastic first step in combatting fake profiles that they call ConfirmID. Once you’ve created an account, you can, at any time, upload a clear scan of a government-issued ID card and then, using a webcam, undergo a quick face verification scan to confirm that you are indeed the person identified in the government document. 

This step strikes the perfect balance between not being onerous enough to annoy the average user but still requiring enough effort to deter scammers, who notoriously go after the low-hanging fruit. 

Once you’ve completed the ConfirmID sequence, you’ll be rewarded with a verification badge on your profile, and we strongly recommend that you limit your one-on-one interactions on the site to other verified users. 

Perfect profile photos

Alright, admittedly this one requires some personal judgment, as everyone should strive to upload good, high-quality photos of themselves to dating websites. But if every photo looks like it belongs in a magazine, or if the person in the photo looks a little too good to be true, you should exercise caution.

In the age of generative AI and filters, it’s trivially easy to create a fake photo or series of photos, so you should also be on the lookout for what isn’t in the photos. Are there recognizable local landmarks (clubs, restaurants, well-known parks, or street corners) in the photos, or are they all equally generic?

Over-eager chatters

Ever since chat bots became a thing, dating sites have become plagued with them, and as AI improves more and more, it’s not always easy to know, right away, if the “person” you’re talking to is really human. One dead giveaway, though, is how much they chat and how quickly they reply. 

Real people go off on tangents, employ non sequiturs, and sometimes stumble with awkward questions or comments. Chat bots, on the other hand, are typically always chipper and extremely fast-talking, so much so that a paragraph-long answer can come back to you in seconds. 

They also almost always have an agenda, too, whether that’s directing you to click on a link (“Follow my Instagram profile”) or getting you to divulge some potentially compromising bit of personal information about yourself.

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Entertainment

SNL opens with another Pete Hegseth press conference

Saturday Night Live returned from a brief hiatus Saturday with a cold open depicting a joint press conference between Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel, with “Master of None” creator Aziz Ansari playing the latter.

Colin Jost’s Hegseth hit the familiar beats at the podium — performative machismo, military bravado, and repeated jabs at the secretary’s well-documented drinking habits. This time, Hegseth arrived at the mic hauling an oversized pitcher of scotch, which he assured the room was his one for the day. He then fielded questions from the press about the administration’s handling of U.S. strikes on Iran, dismissing each reporter with the particular brand of smug confidence that has become central to Jost’s portrayal of the character.

Ansari’s Patel proved to be the sketch’s standout, arriving to defend his tenure at the FBI and proceeding to do so poorly. The bit’s centerpiece involved Patel simultaneously denying and admitting that he had locked himself out of his work email for 36 hours after forgetting he had changed his password to “kashmeoutside69.”

Funnily enough, Patel was reportedly locked out of his FBI email in real life and believed, at least momentarily, that he was being fired. As the sketch demonstrated, the distance between SNL’s Cold Open and the actual news cycle has rarely felt smaller.

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