Star Citizen Alpha 3.0 might launch in October after three delays

Star Citizen’s Alpha 3.0 update was expected to release last week, but its development has run on longer than expected resulting in its third delay since its original June release. This comes after finding 94 must-fix issues, however with the team already whittling them down to 76, 3.0 could see a release window early October.

The developers are understandably reluctant to pen in another date after so many delays in launching its now hyped up, sizeable 3.0 update, but the game’s weekly update video ‘Around the Verse’ shares insight as to how the delay came about as well as the bug fixing process.

Studio Director Eric Kieron Davis revealed that before the September release date, 94 must-fix bugs were found in the form of 9 blockers, 62 criticals, 21 high impact, 2 moderate and 0 trivial issues. Associate Producer Matthew Webster follows on to say that the aim is to get through at least the criticals before they are signed off on moving forward, preventing the update from launching within a pre-defined time frame.

One such bug that was detailed was that black artifacts seen flickering more rapidly around certain light sources was found to be caused by the renderer of the fog effect to be dividing by zero. This impossibility causes messy bugs to become more apparent.

Davis explains that since the release of the latest Burndown segment of Around the Verse, the team has managed to reduce the amount of critical bugs by 18, bringing the total from 94 to 76 stopping the release of Alpha 3.0. At the same time, the team has added 773 new updates to the 3.0 branch and are continuing to go through it with a “fine tooth comb, making sure all of the new tech and features work harmoniously together.”

KitGuru Says: The latest delay is unfortunate but not entirely unexpected. At least many can rest assured that the developer is working in a rather transparent way, even if it is asking a lot of patience from the backers of the game.

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