Star Citizen is still working towards its major 3.0 update release later this year, but, as recently reinforced by game director Erin Roberts, it’s just one of a few major changes planned for 2017. Currently, the hope is to introduce jobs, new locations and more in the coming months. Reps from Cloud Imperium Games confirmed as much during the PC Gamer Weekender proceedings this past weekend.
When probed about the game’s anticipated progress this year, Cloud Imperium Games COO Carl Jones had a lot to say, despite the lack of concrete information. “We're not going to talk about any dates,” he cautioned, “but we're working really hard on getting Squadron 42 and Star Citizen moved forward. This year we're looking to do two or three major updates. So we'll be adding more locations, more ships [and] gameplay. We're definitely going to be bringing jobs in, so you can start having missions based around your careers and the archetypes you want to play.”
That message, of course, came with the typical CIG caveat: “It's coming, but still be patient because we're not going to release it until it's ready.”
Speaking to those jobs, other CIG team members touched on how they create the need for different types of players. One development lead mentioned how those who take on shipment roles likely don’t want to be shot while traveling between destinations. That response creates a need for mercenaries to protect the cargo and pirates to steal it. Those pirates might then be tracked by bounty hunters hoping to collect a reward. In other words, within that single career block, there are several positions available.
Symbiosis is felt in the reputation system too. “If you do something for someone else or become a criminal, then a whole bunch of people might not want to work with you,” said one panelist. Similar to jobs, this standing will impact the missions that become available to you. Choices like these were described as “mutually exclusive” ways to “create your own story.”
No word has been given as to when or in what capacity these awesome features will be delivered, but current speculation is that they will be part of Star Citizen’s 3.0 and 3.1 alphas. The last major Star Citizen patch brought the first-person shooter module called Star Marine to Kickstarter backers.
The Star Citizen Kickstarter is exclusive to PC.
What do you think about the idea of jobs and multiple updates in 2017? Can the Star Citizen team pull it off? Tell us in the comments section and listen to the full panel in the videos above.
