Star Citizen is building a faction system, initial launch planned for early January

Star Citizen is getting organized. And not in the sense that it's getting really good at raising incredible amounts of game development cash. No, we knew that already. Dubbed "Organizations," the upcoming space sim has announced a new faction/clan system that's being prepped to go live sometime next month, according to an update from developer Cloud Imperium Games.

The new feature is being integrated into the Star Citizen website and will see five different faction choices when it's released: Corperatons, PMCs, Faiths, Syndicates, and unaffiliated groups simply known as Organizations. That last option is for players who want to roleplay in a slightly more open-ended association, although none of the group types will be tied down by their specific "archetype," according to the developer.

Each of the five groups will set the internal ranking system for its members and decide their specific roles. This last perk sounds promising as it should allow for custom rank titles that don't necessarily conform to traditional military nomenclature. And while each faction will have its own unique alphanumeric ID, organization names themselves can't be locked down, or as the developer puts it, "an unlimited number of players can form groups named 'Red Squadron.'"

I sense we'll see some amusingly creative groups given all this PC-centric flexibility , but there'll also be some level of moderation by Cloud Imperium of any organization's publicly available content, according to the feature description. With all this community organizing going on, it's also great to hear that the official website's chat system will see an upgrade. The new chat system, alongside the Organization features, will be transitioned into the actual game when it's released, according to Cloud Imperium.

Hearing about this in-progress space sim and its galactic ambition for the first time? Check out this interview with Wing Commander creator and Star Citizen lead Chris Roberts on some of the ideas behind the game.

Latest in Sim
An ancient, angry stone mech from No Man's Sky's new Relics update
No Man’s Sky lets you unearth ancient, angry mechs in the astro-archaeology filled Relics update
Dwarf Fortress adventure mode art
After 23 years of making Dwarf Fortress, even its creator is still 'terrified' of drowning all his dwarves with aquifers: 'Part of the problem is we are just not good at videogames'
Tarn Adams, who cofounded Bay 12 Games with his brother Zach, talks about their single-player simulation game "Dwarf Fortress" during an interview at their home office in Poulsbo, Washington, west of Seattle, on December 9, 2022. - A cult favorite among indie game fans, "Dwarf Fortress" has been available for purchase on the Steam online store since December 6, a first for this title that has been distributed for free since its debut in 2006. The real-time management game, set in a medieval-fantasy world and involving overseeing a group of dwarves seeking to build a mighty fortress, has climbed to the fourth best-selling weekly title on Steam. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)
Dwarf Fortress' creator is so tired of hearing about AI: 'Press a button and it writes a really sh*tty, wrong essay about something—and they still take your job'
Decorations in TCG Card Shop Simulator
TCG Card Shop Simulator finally adds the ability to decorate our stores, and suddenly all my profits are being spent on adorable Pigni posters
A person on a snowmobile riding a track in the forest in game Sledders.
Powder enthusiasts seem pretty pleased with new physics-based realistic snowmobile sim Sledders
Dean Hall at GDC 2025.
Outer space inspired DayZ's Dean Hall to become a modder and game developer, and now he's making a Kerbal successor called Kitten Space Agency
Latest in News
Two brightly colored stormtroopers dressed like Run-DMC stand in front of PAX Australia's WELCOME HOME banner.
Tickets for PAX Australia 2025 are on sale now
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again