Star Citizen trailer introduces Anvil Aerospace, $24 million stretch goal achieved

As I activated the long-range news scanner this morning, I saw the unmistakeable blip of some Star Citizen news. "Ah," I thought, "another million dollars already?" The gaps between intervals were becoming less frequent. Grimly I set out, determined to wrangle the stray news fragment, but during my approach, I realised something was wrong. This wasn't about the space game's expanding finances. It was something else entirely: a new trailer, showcasing one of the in-game ship manufacturers. Less than an hour later, I accidentally stumbled across another Star Citizen news scrap. The game had passed its $24 million funding milestone.

Here's what the new total will mean for players:

• " Public Transportation System – Need to get from one place to another but don't have a starship? We're building a galactic transportation system. You can travel via transport from system to system in Star Citizen and even ship items (like a ship you need moved to another hangar.) With this stretch goal, we'll expand this system: star liners, long range transports, charter ships and flyable shuttles!"

In short: space monorails. Since we last honked the Star Citizen news horn, two other stretch goals were unlocked, including the 'Xi'an Scout', a light attack craft, and a facial capture system that the developers say will allow for more realistic characters.

At $25 million, Star Citizen will get an expanded alpha, ensuring that the initial launch of the main game will reach more players than originally planned.