Star Citizen Confirms Major Squadron 42 Update in CitizenCon 2023

Everyone in the gaming community knows that creating a game with impeccable gameplay, a captivating storyline, and hyper-realistic graphics takes years. As for the Star Citizen spinoff, Squadron 42, the development timeline is nearing a close. At this year’s CitizenCon, developers have revealed that the game is feature-complete and has entered the refinement stage.

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Squadron 42 Update on Feature Complete Stage

Players had been anxiously waiting for the single-player component, Squadron 42, to finally get a release date. While the release date has not yet been mentioned, developers at Cloud Imperium Games told fans that Squadron 42 had now been featured. This basically means that all the primary features they had intended to introduce in the game had been added.

Ok, #Squadron42 looks fucking amazing @RobertsSpaceInd #StarCitizen pic.twitter.com/I39GnXrgYy

— Chris Architect ☀️ (@ChrisArchitect0) October 23, 2023

With the game now being feature-complete, the plot and story progression should be set in stone. Since this is a single-player game, you can expect some heavy emphasis on things like character designs, environment graphics, and epic fight scenes. There hadn’t been much talk on what the gameplay’s going to be like, but Cloud Imperium Games released a 20-minute deep dive into what the game will have in store for us.

Now that all those features have been implemented, the last thing left to do is fix all the bugs and glitches. This is why Squadron 42 is now in its polishing stage, so players don’t run into glitchy gameplay after the release. The decade-long wait might finally be coming to an end with the announcement of the feature complete stage.

Squadron 42 Raises Enormous Amount in Crowdfunding

Developing this game into what it’s shown to be wasn’t easy or cheap. Surprisingly, Cloud Imperium Games were able to generate over $600 million for the development of Squadron 42. The crowdfunding campaign started in 2012 and had its peaks and declines in between.

However, with this year’s CitizenCon and the announcement of Squadron 42 being feature complete, they received around $1.6 million on Sunday, 22nd October alone. This just goes to show how anxious players are about the release of the game and making it top tier. Having started development just over a decade ago, the feature complete stage Squadron 42 spells big things to come in the near future.

Another benefit of crowdfunding was the addition of a celebrity cast within the games. The cast includes big Hollywood names like Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, Henry Cavill, and Andy Serkis, to name a few.

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No Release Date Announced Yet, Game Delayed Since 2014

While Cloud Imperium had announced that the game was now feature-complete, they haven’t said anything about a release date just yet. At CitizenCon 2023, they said that due to the huge generosity shown by players in their crowdfunding campaign, they’re still trying to make improvements to the game using all of those extra funds.

The single-player spinoff of Star Citizen was supposed to be released in 2014, but due to developmental delays, players will need to wait a bit more. Still, we’re hopeful that with the game finally being feature complete, we can expect a release date in the coming years.

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Concluding Statement

Cloud Imperium’s announcement of Squadron 42 finally being feature complete is a big step forward for Star Citizen and Squadron 42 fans. People who have helped in the crowdfunding definitely want to see the game reach its full potential, so they’re content with the developers biding their time. However, the next step after the refinement and bug fix phase is probably the announcement of a release date, something everyone’s waiting to hear.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Squadron 42 a Sequel to Star Citizen?

Squadron 42 is a stand-alone, entirely separate game. While it does share the same game lore and game development, the game features single-player gameplay as compared to Star Citizen’s multiplayer game modes.

Why Hasn’t Squadron 42 Been Released Yet?

Cloud Imperium Games have announced that the game is finally feature complete, but they still need to polish it and get rid of any bugs or glitches present. Senior Games Director Richard Tyrer mentioned they’re putting extra emphasis on “Ensuring the game feels fun and immersive”. After this final stage, we’re hopeful to get a final release date for the game.

Does Star Citizen Still Receive Updates?

Yes. Star Citizen still receives regular updates throughout the year, making improvements to the gameplay. This is sometimes seen as surprising, considering the game has been in the Alpha stage ever since 2015. Regardless, Cloud Imperium still implements some very advanced updates into the game, the reason behind its continued popularity.