Star Citizen is an extremely ambitious game and as such, it does a lot of things which other games do not. Unlike other titles which make money off lootboxes, Star Citizen offers players the ability to buy space ships. Depending on the size it can range from a few hundred to a thousand GBP. Now, it appears that that they are also selling land claim licenses, giving players the ability to own virtual estate.
Land Claim License Packages
Unlike the various ship and upgrade packages, land claim packages are a lot simpler in Star Citizen. They only offer two types of license available: standard and estate. A standard 4km x 4km parcel of land costs £48, while the larger “estate” package grants 8km x 8km for £96. This parcel of land is zoned for commercial, residential or industrial use. Plus, users will get a Geotack marking beacon for the standard package, while getting the Geotack-X beacon for the Estate package.
There is a limit of 10 parcels of land per account, no matter if it is the Standard or Estate package. For now, these are only available for purchase using real-world money. However, developer Cloud Imperium Games promises that in-game credits will be acceptable for purchasing these soon. These are credits which you can earn while playing the game.
These claim licenses are being made available for pledging to help fund Star Citizen’s development and is not a requirement for starting the game. To keep the immersion complete, there is even an in-universe explanation for the sale of these land parcels:
“The UEE [Star Citizen’s space government] sells claim licenses for the same reasons as any government – to raise revenue to fund public benefit programs, to liberalise its economy, to spur growth and tax revenue, and to fund the military campaign against the Vanduul.”
If you want more details, watch this 40-minute video discussing the new feature at length.
