Star Citizen’s Squadron 42 single-player campaign is not coming this year. Even then, Cloud Imperium Games said the game is on its “close out” phase.
Star Citizen is taking too long to finish. Squadron 42, the game’s single-player, started in 2015 and is now five years in development. Even then, Cloud Imperium is nowhere near finishing the game, even with its $300+ million in finances.
SQ42 will be done “when it’s done”
Star Citizen is one of the most-funded games of all-time. The game now has a whopping US$300 million in crowdfunding, gaining more as time goes by. Even then, they somehow can’t get around the bend for their single-player campaign.
CIG boss Chris Roberts has now confirmed in a blog post that SQ42 will not come this year. He didn’t give a target date for the game, saying it will be “done when it’s done.”
“I know everyone would like a definitive date on when Squadron 42 will be done but the best answer I can give you is that it will be done when it is done, and that will not be this year,” said Roberts in the post.
“But starting this December you should have more visibility into what the team is working on, what they have left and with The Briefing Room you’ll get much more in-depth visual dives into what we’ve done and features and content we can share without spoilers.”
The Briefing Room is a YouTube series from Cloud Imperium. It will act as a developer’s notes and update backers on the status of the game. In July, the company promised to release better roadmaps of their roadmaps, which is likely it.
CIG now polishing SQ42
Squadron 42 took a long time out, and many of the backers showed their frustrations before. It doesn’t help that CIG rarely updates or communicates with its backers. Roberts knows this, and he assures the game is now in the “close-out” phase.
“I want Squadron 42 to be finished and played by all of you, more than anyone,” said Roberts. “I can tell you that the team is in ‘close out’ mode and we are actively looking to burn down our remaining tasks and focus on polishing gameplay. It is going to be a game that is worth the wait, and one that the team and I, and you the community who supported its creation, will be proud of.”
“Much like Star Citizen, Squadron 42 is how I always dreamed of being immersed in a riveting story where I was the star of my own huge space epic. Back when I was building the Wing Commander series, there were always technical limitations, so I had to pick and choose my battles.
“But with Squadron 42 I can finally immerse you as a player into your own adventure to rival any big budget movie you might see on the big screen, interacting and forming relationships with characters played by some of your favorite actors and navigating battles and set pieces that would make any Star Wars film proud.”
Squadron 42 and Cloud Imperium Games is trying to reach for the stars. They’re trying to do everything at once, which can be a bad thing sometimes. Even then, they already dug themselves a hole, and the launch product should be beyond overwhelming.
Featured image courtesy of Star Citizen/YouTube Screenshot