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Chris Roberts, chief developer of the controversial crowd-funded space simulation video game Star Citizen, has made a bold claim about its single-player component, Squadron 42, believing that its launch in 2026 will be as big as Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 6.
This statement comes during an interview between Roberts and French outlet La Presse (translated by PC Gamer), where he stated that Squadron 42 is still set to hit its targeted release window of 2026, although it would apparently be timed to avoid the launch of Rockstar’s behemoth title.
Despite facing such stiff competition, Roberts somehow believes that Squadron 42 can hold a candle to GTA 6 – which launches on 26 May 2026 – stating, “We’re hoping it’ll be almost as big an event. Other than GTA 6, it’s probably the biggest-budget AAA game.”
If Roberts is right about one thing, however, it is just how big Squadron 42 and Star Citizen’s collective budget is, with Cloud Imperium Games’ space simulator considered as one of the most controversial gaming projects of all time, first beginning crowdfunding in 2012 and has to date raised more than US$859 million from players, which the developer making this figure publicaly available on its website.
In the same interview, Roberts also stated that the current funds raised are actually much higher, claiming that Star Citizen has now raised just over US$1 billion. That’s an eye-watering amount of money for a game that doesn’t even have a confirmed release date, and it’s no surprise that this has led to many calling it a scam over the years.
According to Roberts, Star Citizen’s targeted release window remains vague and is now set one or two years after the release of Squadron 42, pointing to a rather broad release window of 2027 to 2028.
As for Squadron 42, Roberts had previously claimed that the game would offer a 30 to 40-hour single-player experience, with the game receiving a gameplay demo in 2024 that showcased flashy cutscenes with its heavy-hitting cast of Gillian Anderson, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, and Mark Strong, alongside first-person shooting segments, space battles, and an on-rails turret sequence. The game is still reportedly arriving sometime in 2026, but judging from Cloud Imperium Games’ track record, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
