The great space simulation Star Citizen has announced a delay. The beta for the single-player part “Squadron 42” has been delayed by 3 months. It is said that the delay is a necessary and good step. They are internally adjusting the development model a bit.
What is Star Citizen changing right now? The developers have issued a blog post saying they are adjusting the development a bit (Via robertsspaceindustries). They call it “Staggered Development”.
In short: The work cycles of the teams are to be longer. They are now to work longer on larger features instead of shorter on smaller ones.
Essentially, the individual teams are shifting from a 3-month cycle to a 6-month cycle.
Better patches need a little more time
This is the impact: Quarterly updates are to continue, but with better quality and fewer bugs.
However, this adjustment now leads to a delay, meaning the next patch will likely be “lighter”; the subsequent updates should be just as full as previous patches, just more polished.
Beta for Squadron 42 comes 12 weeks later
What about the roadmap? On August 30, as part of this adjustment, the Star Citizen roadmap was updated (via robertsspaceindustrie/Roadmap).
It is noticeable that the release of the beta for “Squadron 42” has disappeared from the second quarter of 2020. Squadron 42 is the single-player module featuring many high-profile actors.
CIG states that they have moved the beta start by 12 weeks – so the beta would then be in the third quarter of 2020.
This is actually good for development, because Star Citizen and Squadron 42 share a common codebase. Overall, they expect “good effects” on Squadron 42.
Some fans are losing patience – others are not
How are the players reacting? As always with Star Citizen, it’s not so easy to say; opinions are divided, with negative voices predominating on reddit and in the official forum this time.
The critical voices say:
- The explanation would be “cosmetic” to paint the repeated delays in development in a positive light.
- It was clear that Star Citizen could not adhere to its actual roadmap and needed another delay.
- the beta of Squadron 42 will surely be delayed even longer than 3 months at the current pace.
Other players, however, are discussing the new roadmap and looking forward to changes and improvements in the upcoming patches.
Squadron 42 has already been delayed many times; it was thought that this time the plan would be set:
