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Chris Roberts said Cloud Imperium raised $46 million in a 2018 private investment to help pay for marketing and release needs for Squadron 42. The deal was separate from money raised through Star Citizen crowdfunding: Roberts said crowdfunding would continue to fund development, while the investment addressed the cost of bringing Squadron 42 to market.
What the $46 million deal involved
In a December 20, 2018 letter, Roberts said Cloud Imperium closed a minority investment in its US and UK companies. Clive Calder’s family office and Keith Calder’s Snoot Entertainment invested $46 million for approximately 10 percent of the shares.
Roberts said he remained chairman, CEO, and majority shareholder, and that control of the company and its board remained with him. GamesBeat reported at the time that Roberts owned 75 percent and valued the company at $496 million; those are figures reported in 2018, not current ownership or valuation information.
The deal was private investment, not another contribution from the game’s backers. GamesBeat’s December 2018 interview described $211 million raised from 2.2 million fans over the preceding five years. That figure is a historical snapshot from the article, not a current crowdfunding total.
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Why Roberts said the company needed it
Roberts framed the investment as a way to fund marketing and release needs for Squadron 42 without handing the company’s future to a publisher or asking existing backers to pay for marketing. He argued that a successful game would need substantial marketing to compete for attention with major single-player releases. He also said the investors were chosen because he believed they understood the company’s direct relationship with its audience and its long-term entertainment business.
In the official announcement, Roberts put the purpose this way: “Taking in like-minded partners helps us solve the need of funding the marketing and release of Squadron 42, but also stay attuned to what makes us special.” That is Roberts’s account of the rationale, not independent evidence about the company’s finances or the investors’ motives.
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For development spending, he described a different funding relationship in the interview: “We’ve told everyone on our backer side that the money we raise dictates the level of development spending and scope of what we’re trying to do with Star Citizen.” In other words, he said the private investment was aimed at marketing and release, while crowdfunding continued to support development of Star Citizen and Squadron 42.
Why there are two different $46 million milestones
The 2018 private investment can be confused with a separate crowdfunding milestone because both were $46 million. They were different events, years apart, with different funding mechanisms.
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| Amount and date | What it refers to |
|---|---|
| $46 million, announced December 20, 2018 | Private minority investment in Cloud Imperium’s US and UK companies, for approximately 10 percent of shares, according to Roberts’s announcement. |
| $46 million, achieved June 12, 2014 | A Star Citizen crowdfunding stretch goal listed as accomplished on the official RSI funding-goals page. |
The 2020 release expectation is outdated
In the 2018 interview, Roberts said the team was looking toward a 2020 release for Squadron 42. That was a forecast at the time, not a release date that held. On August 27, 2026, PC Gamer reported that Roberts had moved the target from Q4 2026 to Q2 2027, citing his statement on RSI and his concern about competing for attention with GTA 6. Q2 2027 is the latest reported target, not a guaranteed launch date.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the deal does—and does not—show
The investment shows that Roberts said Cloud Imperium sought outside capital for marketing and release needs while continuing to rely on crowdfunding for development. It does not, by itself, establish that the funding was sufficient to complete either game, prove the company’s current financial health, or guarantee a release schedule. Roberts’s 2018 interview also captured community questions such as “How much are they spending? Do they have enough money to finish the game?” but it did not identify those questions as results of a poll or measured audience study.
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