Another year has gone by, another series of missed release dates for a feature in the sci-fi epic, Star Citizen. That planned Squadron 42 beta has once again missed its deadline. And it would seem that the game is in very bad shape. RSI hasn’t shared much news on the game mode for months, and the first thing we hear is a delay to a new, unknown, release date.
RSI revised its project roadmap on December 23, deleting any mention of a Squadron 42 beta. A further update has squashed any hopes of more news about the future of the mode. A new Letter from the Chairman has basically said that fans will get the game when they get it. The statement included some contradictory logic. In one section, Roberts says that the game is effectively on hiatus. He then follows with this, “This does not mean we will stop communicating our progress on Squadron 42. We will continue with our monthly reports for Squadron 42, and we will also share our current development progress in our New Roadmap.”
To make it very clear that they haven’t made any notable progress on the Squadron 42 beta, Roberts was honest. In a statement, he basically admitted that nothing’s really changed and that the game is too rough to show. And given that it has been four years, we may never see this game. Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, and Gary Oldman all signed on to lend their talent to the game, and their performances may never see the light of day.
“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 added.
The beta for the feature has suffered perpetual delays going back years. The original release date of Q2 2020 has long since passed. And since that time, things have appeared to stall even more. The planned beta for the singleplayer campaign has now
The team has also been bogged down in various tangential developments for other modes. The 40-player Theaters of War mode still has no firm release date.That mode, among many other things in the game, seems to be stuck in a perpetual alpha state.
“In the meantime, Star Citizen is the best visibility into the gameplay and technical progress we make; you can download a new update every three months with new features and content, as well as advances in tech,” Roberts wrote. “My hope is that you’ll be so engaged in Star Citizen that Squadron 42 will be here before you know it.”
Recent news on the whole game has been slow, but steady. The release of recent updates like the new flight model was met with some enthusiasm.
In other news, the team has also been slowly putting along in terms of fundraising. As of now, the game nears $400 million raised for development, and it continues to grow. More than 2.7 million backers have raised over $305 million towards the game.
