As infinitely in-development multiplayer MMO Star Citizen crosses the $1 billion funding mark, creator Chris Roberts promises that its single-player component, Squadron 42, is just around the corner.
Announced alongside the original game over a decade ago, Squadron 42 is a long in-development single-player campaign based around the bones of the online game. With a full story starring Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, Gary Oldman, Henry Cavill and more, the game is reporteldy set to launch this year.
Speaking to Variety, Roberts confirmed that the game is getting “imminently closer to launch”. While no official date has been given for the single-player game, which could be pushed to next year, Roberts teased that fans will soon see more of the game in action.
Roberts explained that Squadron 42, similar to his work on Wing Commander, is designed to make you “the star of this huge blockbuster event movie”. The creator explained that the game “seamlessly goes between the storytelling and the cinematic moments to you being in control and first-person”.
Interestingly, the game is finally “right at the end now” with the game now feature-complete and almost ready for players. “The heat is being turned up for Squadron [42],” he added. “As we get imminently closer to launch—and I say that in game development language—it’s very hard to keep it under wraps.”
Squadron 42 has been shown in action multiple times over the last few years. While the main Star Citizen online experience is still far from being done at this point, the single-player campaign does look remarkable in early footage.
Around a year ago, developer Cloud Imperium Games released over an hour of footage from the video game. The demo, which was shown at CitizenCon, detailed early gameplay with cinematic moments, spaceship dogfighting, and FPS on-the-ground sections. It was very impressive, and unique, but how it all comes together is still unknown.
At the time of writing, there is no concrete release date for Squadron 42, and it’s not known when the main Star Citizen experience will even be close to finished. Nevertheless, the former, at the least, is seemingly almost here, and it’s very exciting as well as ridiculously ambitious.
