Longest development period for a simulation videogame

The first game in the space sim Elite series, titled Elite (David Braben and Ian Bell), was published in 1984 and had two sequels: Frontier: Elite II (GameTek) in 1993, and Frontier: First Encounters (Frontier Developments) in 1995. Braben mentioned plans to work on Elite IV at E3 1997. More than 17 years later the PC version of the game’s fourth instalment – Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments) – is set for a worldwide release in late 2014, with a Mac version due to follow some three months later. The final stages of development for Elite Dangerous were funded through Kickstarter, with the funding campaign taking place over 60 days from 5 November 2012 to 4 January 2013, and as of 9 July 2013, some 25,681 backers had pledged a total of £1,578,316 – surpassing its original goal of £1.25 million. Gamers who pledge receive various "free" items according to their total pledge, with the items ranging from mugs, music CDs, expansion packs and 3D models. The "stretch goal" of £1.4 million was reached, enabling a Mac version to be released after the PC version. A new stretch goal of £1.5 million was also reached, promising another 10 playable ships to be added. The 18-year development period beats Duke Nukem Forever (Gearbox Software, 2011), which launched in June 2011 after 13 years in production.