Star Citizen is a project of multiple game modes. There’s the Persistent Universe (the MMO mode), Arena Commander (the space combat arena mode), Star Marine (the multiplayer FPS combat mode), and Theaters of War (the multiplayer mixed arms mode that was first shown off at CitizenCon 2019). Of those four modes, three are playable now, while Theaters of War has been in closed testing but otherwise has been rather quiet in terms of updates. That silence was broken during this week’s Calling All Devs video, which offered a status update.
In the video, it was confirmed that a ten-person team at Firesprite along with some devs at CIG are working exclusively on the mode, representing 1.6% of the overall development budget. Recent testing has been reportedly very positive while the devs are working on applying feedback to the FPS-focused Scenario One and development of the ship combat-centric Scenario Two. Overall, Scenario One is mostly ready to ship and might be coming in 18 months’ time. As for why there hasn’t been much word about the mode, it’s mostly due to the fact that the game’s engine hasn’t been optimized to run better than 20 FPS, but work on the engine as well as lessons learned form the XenoThreat event have helped the devs make progress.
On the subject of events, Invictus Launch Week is coming back, offering Star Citizen free to everyone between May 22nd and June 3rd. There will be the usual selection of free ships to fly and the show of UEE military might, but this year’s event will allow players to tour a Javelin war ship as well. The event will be held at New Babbage in Microtech, with additional details available on the event’s website.
