In a stroke of marketing genius, Cloud Imperium Games has released this slick commercial (via its Roberts Space Industries alter-ego) for one of the spacecraft which will be available in the forthcoming sci-fi epic, Star Citizen.
The video cleverly apes contemporary car commercials, showcasing the ORIGIN Jumpworks 2943-300i, a single pilot vessel designed for speed.
The ship is described in the brochure as a “touring model” which apparently has “the class and sophistication expected of ORIGIN design” and has a number of other variants too.
Yes, there’s actually a brochure, available as a PDF, detailing the entire 300 series product line.
A further layer of meta is evident, with the fictional manufacturer, ORIGIN Jumpworks, being a reference to creator Chris Roberts‘ early days at Origin Systems where he worked on his classic Wing Commander series.
This amazing attention to detail and polish bodes well for the ambitious space sim, which has enjoyed unparalleled success and raised over $10m through crowdfunding channels including Kickstarter.
The video is a great way of showcasing new content to crowdfunders and future customers whilst building a mythology around the Star Citizen universe.
There will be more to come in the near future, with the Roberts Space Industries website stating:
“We’re debuting the base 300i commercial today and then over the course of next week we will have alternate commercials for each of the variants, similar to how present day car manufacturers treat the launch of a new model.”
This will include a 315p explorer variant, as well as a 325a dogfighter and a “speedy limited edition 350r racer” as featured in the brochure.
Nicely done Roberts Space Industries. I look forward to more of this.
