Release date
More actions
The release date for Star Citizen and Squadron 42 has been announced and changed several times.
Star Citizen
edit
Star Citizen was first revealed at GDC on October 10th 2012, which is also the start of the crowdfunding campaign and the game production.
2014, Initial release date
editThe original golden ticket mentioned that the development would take 24 months, putting the release at October 2014.
Community votes
editIn September 2013, a first Community poll on what to do after the crowfdfunding goal was reached was held, with 21510 people participating and with 87% votes to keep the crowdfunding up through development and continue to offer stretch goal rewards in addition to extra features and development milestones.[1]
In June 2014 a second Community vote on whether to continue to offer stretch goals was held, with 55% of 35243 participating people voting yes.[2]
Those community votes meant increased scope, and therefore increased delay. There exists criticism over the low percentage of voters compared to the amount of backers.
After the implementation of more stretch goals (the last stretch goal was achieved 2014-11-10) the release was subsequently postponed.
2016, second release date
editAt BAFTA LA in January 2015 Chris Roberts talked about a fall 2016 commercial launch.[3]
Current release date
editThere is currently no official hard release date for 1.0.[4]
Squadron 42
edit
Squadron 42 was announced on October 10th 2012 together with Star Citizen at GDC Online 2012.
2014, first release date
edit2015, second release date
editAt at BAFTA LA in January 2015 Chris Roberts talked about a fall 2015 release.[3]
2016, third release date
edit
After CitizenCon 2015, a new homepage "Answer the Call" showed the date 2016, including an 'Opening Cinematic' speech of Admiral Bishop.[5]
At CitizenCon 2016 Roberts confirmed it would be delayed.[6][7]
After the 2016 delay, CIG has avoided giving any fixed release dates. In a Letter from the Chairman, Roberts reiterated that 'it is too early to discuss release or finish dates on Squadron 42.[8]
2023, Feature complete
editSquadron 42 was announced as feature complete at CitizenCon on October 22, 2023.[9]
2026, fourth release date
edit
During CitizenCon 2024, the release date was announced to be 2026.[10] The CIG financials for the year ended 2024 name Squadron 42 as the "nearest term priority, with a targeted release in 2026, followed by the 1.0 multiplayer version of Star Citizen thereafter."[11] In May 2026 Chris Roberts said that the plan is for the end of 2026 but he can't 100% guarantee it, citing "a certain thing in the industry that we, like everyone else, we have to pay attention to", understood by most as referring to the release of Grand Theft Auto VI in November.[4]
Memes
editThe delays, and more importantly the actual amount of time involved, have given birth to a number of memes among players.
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑
Letter from the Chairman: $19 Million!. Transmission - Comm-Link. Retrieved 2013-09-17
- ↑ Letter from the Chairman: $46 Million. Transmission - Comm-Link. Retrieved 2014-06-12
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Star Citizen Chris Roberts at BAFTA LA Januari 2015, Youtube, Arne Pols, 21 January 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Is Star Citizen a Real Videogame?, interview with Chris Roberts, thisweekinvideogames.com, May 6 2026
- ↑ Squadron 42: Bishop Senate Speech (2015-10-10), acc. 2022-10-22
- ↑ YouTube - Citizen Con 2016 Presentation - Timecode 1h7m
- ↑ Squadron42 - Answer the Call
- ↑ Letter from the Chairman (2020-12-23). Transmission - Comm-Link. Retrieved 2022-10-22
- ↑ Squadron 42 I Held the Line. Transmission - Comm-Link. Retrieved 2023-10-22
- ↑ CitizenCon 2954: Day One [Full Broadcast], Star Citizen, YouTube, 2024-10-19
- ↑ Cloud Imperium Games Limited, Annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024, UK companies house, 20 Aug 2025
