Star Citizen Squadron 42 Release Is Still Too Far Away To Show Gameplay

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Sorry, Star Citizen fans, Roberts Space Industries (RSI) isn't quite ready to share gameplay footage just yet. The spaceflight and first-person shooter game's creator, Chris Roberts, revealed in a recent update to RSI's project roadmap that Star Citizen and its standalone single-player story campaign, Squadron 42, are not ready to be released yet and there's no word on when they will be ready. The update comes just weeks after RSI missed its projected window for a beta release of Star Citizen.

Star Citizen, developed by Cloud Imperium Games, has been in the works since 2010, though it was not until 2012 when Roberts began a Kickstarter campaign for the game. The campaign quickly surpassed its funding goal to become one of the most successful gaming Kickstarter campaigns up to that point. Cloud Imperium games continued to raise funds after the Kickstarter's initial end by selling ships and other in-game content. The game may now be the most expensive game ever, as Star Citizen raised more than $300 million by June 2020. Unfortunately, the game has still been plagued by a series of delays since its initial release plan in 2016.

In September 2019, RSI revealed that a Squadron 42 beta would be coming in the third quarter of 2020. That time frame has now come and gone, and by December 23, RSI had removed all mentions of a beta from its project roadmap. In a letter to Star Citizen donors, Roberts said that "Squadron 42 will be done when it is done" and it's too early to discuss release or finish dates. Moreover, RSI has no plans to share gameplay or other elements because that footage can be used closer to whenever the determined release date will be.

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While Squadron 24 gameplay remains unavailable, Roberts assured that backers can get the closest look at the single-player campaign by checking out Star Citizen's alpha updates, which are available every three months. "A lot of the core gameplay of Star Citizen, especially the flight and on-foot combat, will be the same between both games," Roberts said.

It's certainly disappointing that there was no follow-through on the Squadron 42 beta, but it is admirable that RSI and Cloud Imperium Games are devoted to providing only the best content. Still, it's been a long time coming for the release of both Star Citizen and Squadron 42, to the point where backers began to fear if the games would ever see their full releases. RSI has acknowledged these fears and remained apologetic, continuously pushing backers to focus on Star Citizen's alpha updates, but that may not be enough to soothe concerns.