Sci-fi video game Star Citizen was originally slated for to arrive in 2014, but its release date has now been pushed back to 2026.
At CitizenCon in Manchester, Star Citizen creator Chris Roberts said he was confident the game’s single-player campaign Squadron 42 will be released in 2026.
This part of the game was announced back in 2012 as part of the Star Citizen kickstarter campaign. More than a decade on, the team has released a teaser that clocks in at more than an hour long.
It starts with a cut scene featuring Hollywood star Henry Cavill as Ryan Enright, and the gameplay demo shows the campaign will feature a mix of space combat and first-person shooter, and exploration segments.
Other stars you will hear and see in the trailer include Gillian Anderson, Gary Oldman, Mark Strong and Damson Idris.
The wider cast also includes Mark Hamill and Andy Serkis.
Much of the cast was announced as far back as 2015, while developer Cloud Imperium Games said Squadron 42 was “feature complete” in 2023.
By conventional standards it is astonishing Star Citizen has stayed afloat after more than a decade in development. It started out as a Kickstarter project but the first rough version of the game was playable in 2013. It has been, and is, primarily funded by players. Those supporting the game today pay for packages of in-game items.
These range from space ship “starter packs”, priced at around £40, to the £264 “Constellation Andromeda” pack, which includes a huge freighter. Players also pay for insurance, which means they won’t lose ships of upgrades if parts of their fleet are lost or stolen – although a basic form of insurance is currently included for free in the main multiplayer mode.
Combining the revenues from kickstarter funds and more recent package sales, Star Citizen has made more than $732 million to date.
The Squadron 42 single-player campaign will command an additional fee, even if you have paid for a content package for the base sandbox-style Star Citizen mode.
Star Citizen creator Chris Roberts says Squadron 42 will provide 30 to 40 hours of gameplay.
Before Star Citizen, Roberts was best known for his work on the Wing Commander series. In a shorter time span than has passed since Star Citizen’s announcement, nine Wing Commander games were released in the 1990s.
Could Star Citizen’s single-player campaign be delayed again before 2026? Judging by the game’s history, it certainly could be.
