The space simulator Star Citizen has now raised a record-destroying $37.5 million in crowdfunding. Although there's no release date in sight, Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games is using some of that pile of cash on a clever marketing gambit: a spaceship design contest, broadcast each week on YouTube.

The Next Great Starship episodes will appear each Friday at 3 p.m. Pacific time. The first episode aired on January 31, and the finale will air on June 7.

Last year, over 270 teams of modders and 3-D visual artists competed to gain entry to the contest by designing weapons for the Star Citizen universe.

Judges have now whittled that pool down to 24 teams, who will now be tasked with designing a full-size spaceship for inclusion in the final version of Star Citizen when it launches sometime next year. The winning team will take home $30,000 in cash, as well as prizes including high-end gaming rigs. Smaller cash prizes will be awarded to runners-up.

Teams will be eliminated as the competition continues, based on work-in-progress videos uploaded by the would-be spaceship designers.