The Star Citizen single-player campaign, Squadron 42, is targeting a 2020 release window. The long-gestating multiplayer space simulation game also received an influx of $46 million from private investors. Cloud Imperium Games’ Star Citizen is now valued at over half a billion dollars.
Chris Roberts, director of Star Citizen and Squadron 42, posted a new “letter from the chairman” earlier today. A new roadmap was released for Squadron 42, which pinned a release in mid 2020. Cloud Imperium Games is aiming to have Squadron 42 feature complete by the end of next year, and will spend the following six or so months for polish and optimization work. The single-player Squadron 42 story features many A-list actors including Mark Hamill and Gillian Anderson. Hamill previously worked on Chris Roberts’ Wing Commander series from the 1990s.
Beyond the Star Citizen single-player campaign is the “persistent universe” or PU. The multiplayer persistent universe is slowly coming together, although it is still a far cry from being feature or content complete. Star Citizen has not had a public release window listed since mid-2016 when both games were delayed.
Roberts also announced that private investments of $46 million have been made towards the game’s development. Clive Calder and his son Keith provided the influx of cash that will push Squadron 42 across the finish line. Calder, a South African native, co-founded Zomba Group and its subsidiary Jive Records. Jive has been host musicians and artists including A Tribe Called Quest, Will Smith, 2Pac, Backstreet Boys, NSync, Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake. His son Keith Calder is an independent film producer.
Star Citizen and Squadron 42 have suffered from protracted, and oft-delayed development. Originally revealed in 2012 with a Kickstarter campaign, Star Citizen has raised over $200 million from crowdfunding, and has over 2 million unique backers.
The game was originally being built in CryEngine 3, but has since moved to Amazon Lumberyard—itself a derivative of CryEngine. The game engine has been a roadblock for the developer, as it was originally built with single player and small-scale multiplayer in mind. A legal roadblock has cropped up as well, with CryEngine developer Crytek suing Cloud Imperium Games over an alleged breach of contract.
