Star Citizen’s single-player campaign mode, Squadron 42, has been hit with yet another delay to 2027, with Cloud Imperium Games CEO Chris Roberts insisting that this was to avoid competition with perhaps the biggest game of the year, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto VI.
Announced via a blog post, Roberts said that the game will now be targeting a Q2 2027 launch, noting that this delay was due to the “attention buzz saw of GTA6“, and that releasing the game in the same window would be detrimental as it might get overshadowed by the hype surrounding Rockstar’s release.
“At CitizenCon 2024 we announced we would ship in 2026. Our plan was to release in Q4 around IAE,” he wrote. “But much like the rest of the industry there is no way I want to launch my spiritual successor to Wing Commander, a game that has had twelve years of blood, sweat and tears invested into it launching into the attention buzz saw of GTA6. While GTA6 isn’t launching on PC this November, pretty much all outlets and most content creators will be all over it, not leaving a lot of room for other coverage.
“I know a lot of you will be disappointed to not be playing Squadron 42 at the end of this year,” he continued. “But it is the best thing for the project as it is truly something special and so needs to the opportunity to have the focus of the wider gaming world.”
Roberts also noted that the studio will still be doing previews of Squadron 42 for content creators and early backers in October, with the plan to announce a more concrete release date plan shortly after. The single-player spin-off, which has been in development for nearly as long as Star Citizen itself, promises an ambitious campaign starring heavy-hitters like Mark Hamill, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, Gillian Anderson, Andy Serkis, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Strong, and many others.
Star Citizen, on the other hand, remains one of the most controversial gaming projects in the history of video games, with its lengthy 14-year crowdfunding run that has, to date, garnered over US$1 billion with no release window in sight. At least Squadron 42 seems to have a more concrete launch window, but with the studio’s track record, fans aren’t holding their breath.
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.
