The broader gaming community often perceives it as a scam, criticizing it for its long development timeline, delays, monetization model, and ongoing technical issues.

That’s because it is a scam, full stop. The game will never leave alpha. It’s been 13 years, what you see is all you’re gonna get. They’ll keep releasing several hundred dollar ship “DLC”s every year or so just to keep the money flowing, but they’ll never deliver a finished product. Damn shame too.