The saga of Star Citizen dates back nearly 13 years, and despite the $859 million raised by players via various crowdfunding campaigns and early access sales, the 1.0 release of the game is nowhere in sight. In the meantime, Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) will be releasing a spin-off title — Squadron 42.
This has prompted some audiences to label Star Citizen as a scam, despite repeated assurances from developers CIG that it will be released.
The window for its slated release is now between 2027 and 2028.
What is Squadron 42?
Squadron 42 is described as a single-player spin-off of the main multiplayer space sim that is Star Citizen.
It was previously described as being released in parts or episodes, meaning that it might only be ‘episode one’ of Squadron 42 that launches next year. Alongside that information, a demo was released in 2024 which showcased cutscenes, on-rails turret sections, a first-person shooter section and plenty of Hollywood actors.
In fact, the presence of many Hollywood stars is perhaps the most noteworthy thing about the game, and it is star-studded list to say the least.
Gary Oldman, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, Mark Strong, Andy Serkis, Eleanor Tomlinson and Henry Cavill are just some of the names confirmed to be in Squadron 42. While some players might find a big name exciting for a game cast, it’s rarely the reason to purchase a game, so it’s unclear if this is where the majority of the budget of the game is allocated.
Will it rival GTA 6?
The general consensus is that Star Citizen, and especially its spin-off Squadron 42, have much less broad appeal than Grand Theft Auto and so will be dramatically outsold — despite developer Chris Robert’s recent comments.
He said: “We’re hoping it’ll be almost as big an event. Other than GTA 6, it’s probably the biggest-budget AAA game.”
However, with GTA 6 launching on consoles instead of PC and Squadron 42 landing exclusively on PC, there is a distinct lack of overlap for the developers to take advantage of. Star Citizen boasts over one million returning players every month, speaking to a larger interest than is perhaps obvious at first glance.
Squadron 42 Release Date
With Star Citizen itself missing release targets in the past, such as one back in 2014, there is some doubt about whether or not Squadron 42 is going to hit its mark.
While Grand Theft Auto 6 developers have reaffirmed its specific release date (even if some are dubious about how likely it is to stick to it) Squadron 42’s release has been broadly applied to 2026 as a whole, meaning that more details are due to be released.
