https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/3/thread/broken-trust-in-cig
Still a record sales year though, like each previous year was. 
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/3/thread/broken-trust-in-cig
Still a record sales year though, like each previous year was.
Is it actually that financially successful? The problem with this "model of development" is that you can't make a huge profit because you're compelled to keep the gravy train going until it implodes
It was successful for Chris Roberts and his immediate inner circle. The game may be a money sink approaching a billion dollars but he continues to take his cut.
One of the earliest quotes from him making promises about Star Citizen was that you "would never find him on a yacht while the game is still in development."
About that...
If I was Chris Roberts I would be bleeding the company dry at possible turn
Run all the employee salaries through your payroll processing firm, lend yourself money to buy the building to rent back to CIG, lease the IP (I think he did actually sell it), etc.
Not only is it a scam at this point, but it's a deeply inefficient one - you don't need to hire 500 staff to produce what looks like a couple million in content to keep the grift going
I think it's rumoured him and his relatives take about 10 percent of revenue, which is actually pretty small for a conman from Hollywood
I mean he is just all around incompetent.
If it's only 10 percent, that's still far more money than most people could really spend in ways that actually matter for quality of life. It may not attain the leaderboards of billionaire vampires, but only billionaire vampires and their ghoul followers care about that.
A question for someone with more knowledge than me, I suppose - but haven't they made like a billion dollars? Their costs are super high but most live service games would kill to get that kind of revenue flowing.
Revenue is very high but I don't think Roberts has the intelligence to skim the amount of profits you'd expect from a commercially successful game