The huge crowdfunding project Star Citizen celebrates itself and its fans at CitizenCon. The highlight of the event was a 27-minute video about the single-player campaign Squadron 42, featuring Hollywood stars like Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, and Gillian Anderson. The game is now “featured-complete.”
This was the most important news from CitizenCon:
- After an almost endless development time, CIG is celebrating an important milestone of the single-player spin-off of Star Citizen: Squadron 42.
- The game is now “feature complete.” Only polishing is left, as Chris Roberts announces.
- However, CIG still does not provide a release date for Squadron 42: Experts estimate that there are still 2 to 3 years until the release (via pcgamer). Roberts stated: “When we set a release date, you will be the first to know.”
Bombastic presentation full of Hollywood stars
This is what we see in the trailer for Squadron 42: The 27-minute trailer presents Squadron 42 in its entirety.
Senior Game Director, Richard Tyrer, directs the viewers’ focus to “tactical first-person shooter combat and stealth elements”.
Viewers will surely notice the distinctive faces of the Hollywood stars: CIG has recruited several actors and actresses in 2015 who are well-known and well-received by the target audience of the game:
- Mark Hamill (Star Wars)
- Gillian Anderson (The X-Files)
- Gary Oldman (The Fifth Element)
stand out particularly.
The actors were filmed with ping-pong balls at that time. The recordings took place in 2015 and were documented back then (via pcgamer).
Squadron 42 was originally announced for 2014 – News blackout since 2020
Originally, the release of Squadron 42 was even announced for 2014, but then it was postponed many times.
In December 2020, Roberts then announced that no new release dates would be mentioned and no gameplay shown until they were “in the final sprint.” This point has now seemingly been reached.
After 10 years of waiting, many players are moved
How is the trailer received? The trailer is receiving excellent feedback. Currently, it has already garnered over 200,000 views within 8 hours and generated many enthusiastic comments.
- The most popular comment says: “Mind blown: That was such a fantastic cinematic/walkthrough of Squadron 42. I am hyped.”
- Others say: It was worth the wait.
- One comment says almost ceremonially: After a 10-year journey, we have arrived here.
And is this now Star Citizen? No, Squadron 42 is a “spin-off of Star Citizen”:
- Star Citizen itself is a sandbox MMO with a huge universe. The game is currently in alpha. What is special about Star Citizen is that the game is funded through donations. In the meantime, CIG has raised $616 million – a lot of money comes from the sale of expensive virtual ships, which are also viewed as trade and speculation objects.
- Squadron 42 is a single-player game with a clear story. The game is currently unplayable, but a release is expected in the coming years.
Star Citizen – a special project
What’s behind it: A convention for a single game that has not yet been released. $616 million invested in virtual ships. A game developer who is almost venerated cultically.
Star Citizen has become more of a hobby or a way of life for many than a “normal game.” This is also evident in the comments on the YouTube video.
Despite all the criticism regarding postponed release dates, vaporware, and feature creep, it must be acknowledged that the team around Chris Roberts repeatedly manages to present Star Citizen as an event where the journey seems to be more important than the destination. The emotional connection players have formed with this project is almost unprecedented. This is paying off in the project’s funding. Just on October 22, $1.6 million came in fresh.
All the criticism and outsiders’ misunderstanding of the project seemingly only serve to make the community bond even closer around the game.
Even as an outsider looking at all this with raised eyebrows, one cannot help but watch with curiosity how it will all end. The decision to focus on the “tangible” in 2023 on Squadron 42, rather than talking about distant milestones in Star Citizen, seems to be paying off.
Chris Roberts has announced that many elements from Squadron 42 will also be integrated into Star Citizen and will significantly improve it:
