Star Citizen launches Alpha 3.21 in the build up to CitizenCon

LOS ANGELES – Oct. 20, 2023 – Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) is excited to announce new details about CitizenCon 2953, their annual celebration of the massive and growing community and universe for the in-development MMO Star Citizen. CitizenCon returns with the first in-person event in the last four years at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California on Oct. 21-22. The event will also be livestreamed and supported digitally, allowing fans from around the world to watch announcements, presentations, and competitions live. CitizenCon 2953 has grown both in size and scope, now occupying two full physical halls, and for the first time ever, will span two full days to accommodate the expanded programming of activities and reveals. Fans can watch the CitizenCon 2953 livestream on the Star Citizen Twitch channel when the show begins at 6:00 pm BST on Saturday, Oct. 21, with the show ending at 3:00 am BST. Day two is Sunday, Oct. 22, from 6:00 pm BST – 1:30 am BST. 

“CitizenCon is ultimately about our incredible community, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to return with our largest-scale physical event ever, while continuing to support our global community online. We have so many exciting developments and advancements to share that will make this our best CitizenCon to date,” said Chris Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Cloud Imperium Games and Star Citizen Creative Director. “While we look towards the future this weekend, in the present we’re excited to release the Mission Ready update for Star Citizen to our backers today. Supporting both law abiding and criminal gameplay continues to be central to creating emergent gameplay opportunities and are a focus in this update. We’re looking forward to hearing early feedback directly from players this weekend!”  

CitizenCon is back, bigger than ever, and will be packed with fun activities and opportunities for memorable moments including: 

• Stanton Theater (Main Stage): In addition to hosting the Keynote Address and Closing Ceremonies, the main stage will host presentations from the development team and the community cosplay contest. Attendees can look forward to an exciting lineup of presentations packed with reveals for upcoming features and content such as new vehicles, character tech, locations, UI, and so much more.
• Harnessing the Power of the StarEngine: From pixel to persistent universe and everything in-between, join developers as they showcase the power and depth of StarEngine, the technology powering Star Citizen, enabling the seamless scale that push games to the cutting edge of the industry, technology, and beyond.
• Checkmate Station: The Pyro-themed show floor is filled with curious corners, inviting alleyways, and immersive recreations of in-game environments to set the stage for the perfect picture! In addition to the theming there will be photo opportunities, and the belle of the ball - a 1:1 scale rideable Dragonfly hover bike, dressed in the Digital Goodies Pack livery!
• Meet Your Fellow Citizens: The show floor contains tight tunnels of community booths, operated by community members themselves, as well as larger, open social spaces where Citizens can meet up, relax, and plan their activities for the day. Content creators of all sizes will be organizing in-person meetups with their communities throughout the show at the dedicated Content Creator Corner, where fans can meet their favorite creators or find new ones to follow. Outside of the cosplay competition on the Main Stage many attendees will be wearing their cosplay throughout the show. Be sure to ask before taking a picture of their excellent creations!
• Q&A with CIG Developers: Following the presentations, fans can look forward to smaller scale gatherings with the presenters off the main stage where they will host informal Q&A sessions and community chats. These will be scheduled throughout the show, and fans are encouraged to arrive early to save their space!
• Get ‘Yer Digital Goodies Packs: Introducing the largest Digital Goodies Pack yet, loaded with exclusive in-game content! Players can show off their love of Star Citizen with a suite of cosmetic items including a CitizenCon 2953 Trophy, Outlaw Shotgun, Pyrotechnic Amalgamated Multitool & Case, a to-be-announced ship plushie and challenge coin, and much more. Some of these rewards will be created live on the show floor with input from the community and will be delivered later in the year. The bundle is currently available through Oct. 31, and includes a very special surprise to be revealed during Citizencon that dedicated fans will not want to miss!

For more details on CitizenCon 2953, including the full schedule, visit the dedicated site here. Fans from around the world can watch on the Star Citizen Twitch Channel. Both the Digital Goodies Pack and physical CitizenCon 2953 Access Tickets to the show itself, which include the Digital Goodies Pack, are still available for purchase online.

Additionally, CIG has released the latest free update for Star Citizen to the Persistent Universe (PU) starting today. Alpha 3.21: Mission Ready expands content and systems with greater risk and rewards for criminally minded pilots. Full details of the new additions that backers can begin exploring right now are available on the update’s dedicated page here.

Star Citizen – Alpha 3.21: Mission Ready key features include the following and more:

• Replication Layer Split Preview: Alpha 3.21: Mission Ready debuts this critical technical milestone, which is vital to moving the PU to a single environment shared by all players simultaneously. This tech is being released in a new Preview Channel, running in parallel with live servers, allowing players to experience and test the latest advancement before it migrates to live servers. This tech is a key milestone on the path to server meshing, Alpha 4.0, and beyond.
• Dropping Bombs with the Crusader A1 Spirit: The A1 Spirit is the first in a new line of mid-sized ships from Crusader Industries. Representing the “point of the spear” for the line, the Spirit series are more advanced ships, purpose-built for career professionals who demand high performance and reliable craftsmanship. Designed to serve primarily as a light bomber capable of dropping devastating payloads, the A1 Spirit’s complement of fixed front-facing weapons, missiles, and rear-facing remote turret don’t leave it reliant on escorts to defend against enemy fighters.
• Two New Missions Dial Up the Risk: Sometimes crime does pay, a lot. But as always, with high pay comes considerable risk. Alpha 3.21 introduces a new outlaw mission to steal evidence from Security Post Kareah, a space station operated by Crusader Industries and the UEE Advocacy to maintain a presence above Cellin. This mission will pit players against security forces as they infiltrate the facility; but the greatest threat might come from other players competing for the same evidence, or who have stolen it and are making their own way out with it in-hand, leading to intense PvP or PvPvE engagements. More risk-averse players can undertake the Retrieve Consignment mission, which sends players to specific underground facilities to track down an item contained within. The seemingly simple mission can go sideways quickly though, as many of these facilities have been overrun with NineTails outlaws that must be dispatched, and their bodies searched to find the necessary item codes to retrieve the mission objective.
• Crusader’s Platform Expansion: Crusader, home to Orison the city in the clouds, is not only home to breathtaking views of commercial shipyards but also occasional raids by Nine Tails pirates. Alpha 3.21 expands the number of platforms across the planet, allowing players take part in explosive FPS skirmishes at any time. It also supports multiple iterations of the mission simultaneously. Eliminate the hostiles in aerial and FPS combat, reap the rewards, and keep the skies and platforms of Crusader safe for its residents! 
• [REDACTED] Ship Ready for Service: A new ship will be revealed during CitizenCon 2953 happening on Oct. 21-22, and will be immediately available to purchase and fly in-game!

Star Citizen combines classic space sim and FPS gameplay with boundary-pushing visuals in a massively multiplayer setting of unprecedented fidelity. Live how you want to live: shift paths from cargo hauler to outlaw, explorer, or any other role whenever you want. Explore multiple planets and moons, including vast cities and underground caverns, all created with a unique combination of procedural planet technology and complementary hand-crafted design.

For further information, including how to download and play Star Citizen, visit the official website. Enlist today and join this ever-expanding universe by visiting the game’s Welcome Hub and Guide System for tips on how to play. Keep up to date with Star Citizen development via the game’s Progress Tracker and Roadmap. Millions of players from around the world have already joined to help CIG build the most-ambitious game ever made. For continued updates, follow Star Citizen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, Twitter, and YouTube.

About Cloud Imperium Games

Cloud Imperium Games is a new kind of independent studio dedicated to delivering AAA games outside the established publisher system. It was founded in 2012 by renowned visionary game developer Chris Roberts (Wing Commander series, Freelancer, Privateer), Sandi Gardiner, and international media lawyer and producer Ortwin Freyermuth (Carlito’s Way, Shattered, Das Boot - Director’s Cut), with industry veteran and studio director Erin Roberts (Lego videogame series, Starlancer, Privateer) joining the team in 2013. Cloud Imperium Games is creating Star Citizen, a record-shattering, largely crowdfunded space sim, and Squadron 42, a Hollywood-caliber, story-driven single-player game set in the same universe. Cloud Imperium Games operates in “open development” – sharing progress and updates in near real time. This paradigm-shifting development process (game development usually occurs behind closed doors) gives the community an unprecedented look at Star Citizen and Squadron 42’s development and allows direct feedback and interaction between players and developers, thereby ensuring that the games being developed are what players want to play.