Chris Roberts Reminds Star Citizen Fans That Its Single-Player Mode, Squadron 42, Is Nowhere Near Complete

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Image: Cloud Imperium Games

Cloud Imperium Games Chairman and CEO Chris Roberts has shared a lengthy letter regarding his company’s controversial multiplayer space sim title, Star Citizen, which has been in production for close to a decade now. A portion of the letter relates to the game’s single-player campaign mode, Squadron 42, but unfortunately, it is less of a progress update and more of a confirmation that the game isn’t coming out anytime soon.

“As I said earlier this year, Squadron 42 will be done when it is done, and will not be released just to make a date, but instead only when all the technology and content is finished, the game is polished, and it plays great,” Roberts wrote. “Over the past few years, I’ve seen more than a few eagerly awaited titles release before they were bug free and fully polished. This holiday season is no exception.”

It isn’t clear whether that jab was directed squarely at CD PROJEKT RED’s botched Cyberpunk 2077 release, but Roberts does go on to confirm that he won’t be sharing too much about Squadron 42 anytime soon. His reasoning is that doing so would not only spoil the gameplay, but the narrative as well.

“Because of this I have decided that it is best to not show Squadron 42 gameplay publicly, nor discuss any release date until we are closer to the home stretch and have high confidence in the remaining time needed to finish the game to the quality we want,” Roberts noted. “It is better to treat Squadron 42 like a beautifully wrapped present under the tree that you are excited to open on Christmas Day, not knowing exactly what is inside, other than that it’s going to be great.”

What’s interesting is that the beta for Squadron 42 was supposed to launch earlier this year, in Q2 2020. Nobody knows when it’ll debut now, but Star Citizen fans are free to continue blowing their money on the long-gestating game’s myriad spaceships, some of which cost as much as $2,500.

Tsing Mui
News poster at The FPS Review.

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