Late last year, the makers of Star Citizen promised that gamers were finally getting a space fleet battle mode, of sorts. When these Dynamic Events were first pitched to backers, they looked to be a way for the team to roll out more focused content on a faster schedule. But that obviously didn’t happen. The team has tried to keep players coming in with free weekends and other limited-time tests, but they just needed more content.
The updates to the project roadmap, as well as the various video updates, showed steady progress. The company announced Assault on Stanton as one of the new events coming to the game. As the team put it, “From improving annual events like Invictus Launch Week to enabling patch-exclusive adventures and battles, dynamic events are sure to shake up the ‘verse.”
They even released a nice long video package showing off their plans, which can be seen below.
The game has been defined by progress through Alpha 3, with Star Citizen currently being on Alpha 3.13. Recent updates added refined flying and other changes. RSI and their various teams have poured a ton of time into adding the meat to the game’s bones. Previous patches fleshed out planets, added economic frameworks and more.
And now, we’re finally getting something more substantial. A new patch has finally brought the new mode to the fore. This mutli-phase event was to see teams of attackers and defenders fighting over control of the station. During the fight, AI-controlled fleets and player ships alike will blast each other out of the sky. Star Citizen pilots will have the chance to join forces with the UEE Navy and lead assaults against those fleets too.
To commemorate the launch, after the initial delay, a new teaser has been dropped. Here’s that new teaser, seen below.
Despite Assault on Stanton finally coming out, things are still a bit rough. The game has been in development for more than 8 years, and fans are really getting fed up. The various reports shared about the game hint at the fact that the team is more and more behind schedule, thanks to tons of feature creep. And for many, the wait has been too long.
“Squadron 42 will be done when it is done, and will not be released just to make a date,” said Chris Roberts months ago. The team has still been working on the game for some time, but that A-list cast has already added tons of work. And it would seem like there’s still so much more to do. The beta for the feature has suffered perpetual delays going back years. The recently planned beta has been pushed back to some unknown date, and the singleplayer is effectively stuck in limbo.
Despite recent progress on a new roadmap for both the persistent online mode and single-player Squadron 42, fans are eager for more news. And that news came late last year when the campaign missed yet another beta window. Then there are other modes like the Theaters of War segment, stuck in a similar state of limbo.
Almost 3 million backers have pledged to the game, adding more than $340 million to the project since that initial 2012 Kickstarter. Specifically, 2,960,090 backers have raised $344,287,378 for the game.
