RSI describes this as a logical choice with Vulkan API supporting all versions of Windows as well as Linux and does not force users to upgrade to the latest version in order to play the game. This also gives the developer a way to heavily optimize the game for a single API and not wasting any resources on other development.

According to Ali Brown, the Director of Graphics Engineering at RSI, the company could consider bringing back DirectX 12 support if they found that it gives them a substantial advantage, but 95 percent of the work for these two APIs is pretty much the same.

"Years ago we stated our intention to support DX12, but since the introduction of Vulkan which has the same feature set and performance advantages this seemed a much more logical rendering API to use as it doesn't force our users to upgrade to Windows 10 and opens the door for a single graphics API that could be used on all Windows 7, 8, 10 & Linux."

This also means that Star Citizen will obviously have a big gaming crowd on Linux.

Star Citizen and its single-player stand-alone Squadron 42 game module have managed to raise over US $145 million, with over 1.7 million users backing it up.