Star Citizen won't be 'dumbed down' for console release, says Roberts

Space combat and trading sim Star Citizen will never abandon its Windows PC launch plans or strip away powerful features for a console release, Chris Roberts wrote in a post on the game's forums.

The post addresses fan outcry following the release of a photo showing a PlayStation 4 dev kit on chief technical officer Jason Spangler's desk. Backers of Star Citizen's Kickstarter campaign — the most successful crowdfunding project in history — expressed concern the that game would jump from a Windows PC release to Sony's next-gen console. Roberts assured fans in his post that this was not the case.

"Star Citizen is a PC game," he wrote. "It will never be dumbed down for a lesser platform. We will NOT limit the input options or supported peripherals to the lowest common denominator. We will NOT pass on features and technology just because they will only run on some hardware configurations.

"The PC platform is great because it isn't static," he continued. "It doesn't have rules or some controlling entity that decides what will and won't be in the eco system. If a cool new disruptive technology like the Oculus Rift comes along it can have a chance to gain traction and become the next big thing.

"Because of this Star Citizen will always be primarily a PC game and will embrace the best and newest tech."

Roberts added that Star Citizen will never be released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and developer Roberts Space Industries currently has no plans to launch the game on PS4 and Xbox One. He added that if Sony and Microsoft begin allowing open development on their next-gen platforms, he would consider bringing his game to the consoles.

"Why? Well because then they are essentially inexpensive small form factor PCs with a custom operating system focused on gaming and who wouldn't want a bigger community of Star Citizens?" he wrote. "If Sony or Microsoft are willing to let their platform be open, then I see no real difference between them or Valve's Steambox, a Mac or a PC running Linux, all of which are platforms that I don't think this community would mind supporting as they are all viewed as PCs."

Roberts added that Sony "chased us down to give us some dev kits to play with," but he has been "very clear" regarding what would move him to publish to PS4.

Star Citizen is currently slated for launch in 2015.