Star Citizen launches $30K spaceship design contest

Chris Roberts, designer of highly anticipated galactic combat sim Star Citizen, has announced a contest to design an in-game spacecraft.

The Next Great Starship is a modding competition for teams to design a spaceship that will be included in Cloud Imperium's forthcoming game. Teams of up to three people are eligible to enter the competition which carries a first prize of $30,000.

Roberts, hitherto best known for his 1990s hit franchise WIng Commander, announced Star Citizen in 2012, and has since raised over $21 million in crowd-funding. Much of the game's publicity effort has gone into raising interest in Star Citizen's growing fleet of spacecraft.

The contest will begin with teams submitting a basic weapon design. 16 teams will then be chosen to work on full spaceships. Their work will be the focus of a series of YouTube videos released early next year, culminating in a final showdown in June.

"Our fans have been clamoring for a way to get even more involved in the making of Star Citizen and I think we've found the ideal solution," said Chris Roberts. "What better way to become part of the game than to create a spaceship that you and your friends can actually fly and take into battle?"