What is the status of Squadron 42, the single-player component of the space MMO Star Citizen? Fans have demanded a status update, and the developers have now delivered one.
What is the problem? According to the current Squadron 42 Roadmap, the single-player component of the space MMO Star Citizen, the beta is set to start in Q3 2020. We are currently in this quarter, but there has been no statement from the developers regarding the status of the game for a while – apart from minor updates on ships or combat AI.
This has led some community members to call out the team on reddit, urging them to finally provide a real update on Squadron 42. The gaming press picked up on this and reported on the fans’ discontent.
The developers should not be distracted
How did the developers respond? Now there is an official statement from the development team behind Squadron 42. In the official forum, a post has been published to inform about the status of the game.
It states that the current roadmap does not accurately represent the actual development process. A video update for Squadron 42 was planned. However, the quality of this video did not meet the standards set by the team, and now parts of it need to be re-recorded. This takes time. Time that the team actually does not have.
In all SQ42 updates, our goal has been to find a balance in sharing SQ42 content while keeping the impact on the development team as low as possible, allowing them to focus on what matters: completing the game.
Zyloh in the official Star Citizen forum
The video is now expected to be released in the coming weeks. There is no exact date yet.
What else did the developers say? Since the team is not satisfied with the current roadmap, a new one is to be created.
Our goal with this new roadmap is to give you a better insight into what the teams are working on, to share progress from multiple teams, and to go as far as specifying the size of projects for our tech, feature, and content teams. This new roadmap will drastically change the way you track the development progress for both Squadron 42 and Star Citizen.
The new roadmap will focus more on breaking down teams and features, so you can see interactively what is being worked on across all areas, rather than which features will be released when.
Zyloh in the official Star Citizen forum
What can players expect in the near future? Until the new roadmap is finished, the team wants to improve communication somewhat. These are the next steps:
- Explanation of the goals of the new roadmap and what to expect from it
- A rough mock-up of the proposed new roadmap will be shown
- A working version of the roadmap for at least one of the core teams will be shared
- Transition to this new roadmap
What is the status of Squadron 42 now? This is still the question, as the statement from Cloud Imperium Games did not answer it. We will have to wait for the planned video update and the roadmap before we finally learn more. So it means continuing to wait.
The entire Star Citizen project is repeatedly criticized because some feel that the development is taking too long. However, designer and studio founder Chris Roberts has already addressed this criticism.
