They're professional game devs. Are you saying CIG is somehow different?

They are computer scientists with a very specific specialization in creating the tech they did for dual universe. Dual Universe started as a tech project and then they decided to make a game out of it. Completely different scenario to how Star Citizen began as a game idea and as that idea developed as funding increased and technological possibilities opened up with hardware advances and being able to afford specialized engineers. When Star Citizen was first pitched a lot of the things CIG are doing now weren't even considered possible at that time.

You can hire a small team for a year or two with just a million dollars. Many indie game studios have started with less. If CR wasn't wiling to invest in his dream project, why should anyone else do it?

Star Citizen didn't initially begin as something that required a lot of R & D anyway. It was little more than a Wing Commander/Freelancer successor to be made up to date in a modern off the shelf game engine. Cynical people call the evolution feature creep, but I had little interest in the original pitch of Star Citizen anyway so I'm glad how things turned out with the current expanded vision.