At the end of August, the people responsible for Cloud Imperium finally dared to announce release timeframes for Star Citizen and Squadron 42. According to a developer, they seem to be anything but certain again.
What are the official plans? In an interview studio head Chris Roberts announced that Squadron 42 is set to be released next year. Star Citizen, on the other hand, is expected to follow a year or two later – so in 2027 or 2028.
That would be up to 17 years after the start of pre-production of Star Citizen in 2011 and up to 16 years after the start of the Kickstarter campaign in 2012. At that time, by the way, the plan was to release the game in November 2014 (!) (Source: kickstarter.com).
“Do they even know how to release a game?”
Who made the new statement? Content Director Jared Huckaby explained on Twitch that Squadron 42 will not have an appearance at the upcoming CitizenCon Direct. The reason: The development team is currently fully focused on developing the single-player spin-off of Star Citizen to meet the promised release timeframe.
The team is working hard. We drew a line when we said 2026. I don’t know if we will make it; I just know that we will do everything to make it. And that also includes not getting distracted by CitizenCon.
How is the announcement received by the community? A sentence from this statement raised eyebrows among many fans: “I don’t know if we will make it.” Accordingly, the reactions are:
- BastianHawk asks on Reddit: “Hmm – isn’t it common to start the PR campaign about 12 months before the release? So I would have expected the hype around S42 to begin with CitCon. You know, with all the statements like ‘S42 – 2026’ and ‘as big as GTA6.'”
- kokko693 writes on Reddit: “Squadron is supposed to be the solo part of the game, which should be easier to release than the online game Star Citizen. If Squadron is also delayed, what can they even release? Do they even know how to release a game?”
- Choubidouu brings an old discussion back to the Reddit table: “At what point can we call the entire Star Citizen thing a scam?”
- ClovieKay reminds on Reddit of one thing: “Mark Hamill shot his scenes for Squadron 42 in the same year that Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released.”
Jared Huckaby quickly chimed in on one of the discussions on Reddit to clarify: They are currently on track for the 2026 release. He personally just doesn’t know what the future will bring. Game development is complex; delays can easily happen. Hence his statement that he is unsure whether they can meet the announced timeframe.
It’s understandable that parts of the community react very sensitively to such statements. We are not only looking back at many years of development but also at incredibly high Kickstarter revenues, several postponements, and some questionable design decisions. At the same time, it must also be noted: Star Citizen has gone too far after 14 years and 800 million dollars – But actually, the community is to blame
