StarCitizen:Freelancer (video game)

Template:InfoboxNeue Freelancer is a space trading and combat simulation [[StarCitizen::Category:Video games|video game]] developed by StarCitizen:Digital Anvil and published by Microsoft Game Studios Template:Years or months ago on march 4 2003.

It is a spiritual successor to Privateer.<ref>Happy Hour Museum: Wing Commander Privateer, Star Citizen, YouTube, 31 march 2017</ref>

It is a chronological sequel to Digital Anvil's Starlancer, a combat flight simulator released in 2000. The game was initially announced by StarCitizen:Chris Roberts in 1999 and has been shown at E3, winning awards for the best game of the show, and following many production schedule mishaps and a buyout of Digital Anvil by Microsoft, it was eventually released in March 2003.

Development

Freelancer went into production in Februry 1999 after the Wing Commander movie was picture locked.<ref name=":2">Comment on reddit by banditloaf, reddit.com, 28 August 2026</ref><ref>Comment by banditloaf on reddit, Reddit.com, September 15 2026</ref>

Chris Roberts had a very elaborate idea for a new kind of space game, where instead of twitch based action gameplay it would work like a spaceship RPG. Players would gain EXP and use it to apply to stats, with different combat maneuvers acting sort of like spells. The team never got this to the point where anyone was happy with the design in practice.<ref name=":1">Reddit comment by banditloaf, reddit.com, August 18 2026</ref> In addition Freelancer was to bring a persistent world with a full economy and dynamic weather system on each world, as well as thousands of players. This proved costly and time consuming, causing delays, and eventually Microsoft, who bought Digital Anvil wanting their own version of Privateer with Chris' name on the box, stripped much of the game and paid Chris Roberts a lot of money to make him a creative consultant instead. He left four years into Freelancer, and two years before it game out.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Digital Anvil Interview, ign.com, Jun 18, 2012</ref><ref name=":0" /> He ran the project until Microsoft bought Digital Anvil in December 2000.<ref name=":2" /> Microsoft was setting up infrastructure for the StarCitizen:Xbox and had no use for a PC game at the timer.<ref>"Microsoft funded Digital Anvil from the start. But they didn’t go on to buy the rest to finish a PC game… they were setting up infrastructure for the Xbox!", @banditloaf, Twitter, Apr 20, 2023</ref>

StarCitizen:Martin Galway was audio director.<ref>Martin Galway biography, MobyGames</ref>

Freelancer was finished against all odds thanks to Jörg Neumann who has quietly been part of the bedrock of Microsoft's game ever since.<ref>"The real legacy of Freelancer is that the guy that finished it against all odds, Jörg Neumann, has quietly been part of the bedrock of Microsoft's game stuff ever since! A rare totally reliable producer who you never hear about with the big names.", @banditloaf, Twitter, Apr 20, 2023</ref>

Reception

Freelancer was not a huge commercial success, but it was memorable.<ref name=":0">Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts returns to gaming with Star Citizen online game universe, VentureBeat, October 10, 2012</ref>

Despite its age it still has active private servers.<ref>Welcome to the Freelancer Server Statistics Page</ref> It also has among others a Wing Commander mod.<ref>Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn</ref>

Quote

• "Can't tell the StarCitizen:Star Citizen story without Freelancer :)" -Ben Lesnick.<ref>"Absolutely! Can't tell the Star Citizen story without Freelancer :)", @banditloaf, Twitter, Mar 31, 2017</ref>
• "What Star Citizen is now is sort of like the ultimate evolution of [Freelancer Online]." - Chris Roberts<ref>The State of Star Citizen with Chris Roberts, Back Pocket, Youtube, Feb 27, 2026</ref>

External Links

• Crossfire mod with updated graphics
• Freelancer: The Nomad Legacy fan project

References

<references /> StarCitizen:category:Video games