Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games recently announced that the space sim would be splitting up into two separate products, and today the studio expanded on what exactly that will mean for the game.

Up until now, Star Citizen has been a single, unified product, but Cloud Imperium said that the game’s single-player module, Squadron 42, will be split off into a separate release.

“When we started Star Citizen’s crowdfunding campaign, the plan was that earlier backers would get a lower price on the Star Citizen starter package than those that backed later,” the studio explained in a blog post. “The plan was to first gradually increase the price and then split up various modules for ‘a la carte options.’ This gave backers who joined the project early on and helped get it off the ground an advantage.”

“With the package split, we’re accomplishing this objective without increasing the amount of money needed to join the persistent universe. The ‘package split’ is the first introduction of the anticipated a la carte option: you can pick which part of the game you’re interested in, for now the single player campaign or the persistent universe, and then can choose whether or not to purchase the other module as an add-on.”

Users who had already backed Star Citizen’s crowdfunding campaign will still get access to both the persistent universe, multiplayer aspect of the game, as well as to Squadron 42, but new users will need to buy each experience separately.

Cloud Imperium said that the newly split games will cost $45 each, but after purchasing one, users will be able to add the other for only $15 for a total of $60.

The studio also assured fans that Squadron 42 will still be connected to the persistent universe, saying, “You will access Squadron 42 through the same game client. And your performance in Squadron 42 will still have an impact on your career in the persistent universe, whether you buy both segments together or if you choose to add one further down the line.”

Cloud Imperium’s announcement sounds a lot like one recently made by Daybreak Game Company for H1Z1, which is also being split into two different games. Unlike H1Z1, however, Star Citizen’s separate games will not cost more than the original single game.

Screenshot via Star Citizen | YouTube