StarCitizen:Squadron 42
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Template:For Template:Cleanup Template:InfoboxNeue Squadron 42 is a crowdfunded single player space game developed by StarCitizen:Cloud Imperium Games and developed in parallel to the StarCitizen:Star Citizen MMO.<ref>10 For the Chairman: Episode 67 from 2015-09-21; Transcript by SCQA </ref> Some missions will be replayable in co-op.<ref name=":3" /> It is described as a cinematic narrative experience.<ref>Jared Huckaby description of Squadron 42, Finite Solutions video about the CIG screening room, , finitesolutions.co.uk, 25 september 2025, </ref> It is scheduled to release in 2026.<ref name=":1" />
Story
Spoiler!
Taking place in the Star Citizen universe, the story begins during the Events of Vega II in 2945.<ref>Template:RSIForumComment</ref><ref>10 for the Chairman: Episode 79 from 2016-03-14; Transcript by SCQA. </ref> The player is a rookie pilot joining and flying with the StarCitizen:UEE Navy's celebrated StarCitizen:42nd Squadron. At some point the player will serve on board the StarCitizen:UEES Stanton which is assigned to the StarCitizen:5th Fleet, StarCitizen:87th Battlegroup in the StarCitizen:Odin system.<ref>Squadron 42: The Morrow Tour (LIVE Version) (Squadron 42: Preview) from 2015-10-10. Accessed 2016-11-05.</ref>
The player is thrown into a hazardous campaign to combat a sinister pirate threat, battling on the front lines of an interstellar conflict between some of the most dangerous factions in the universe.<ref name=":2" />
Playing as a character in the army who doesn't choose what he does but does what he is told to is good for storytelling, for a story with a beginning and an end.<ref>StarCitizen:Shroud of the Avatar Live Dev Cam, Richard Garriott, YouTube, 7 Apr 2013</ref> It will nevertheless have branching storylines.<ref>Wingman's Hangar ep011 March 8, 2013, Star Citizen, YouTube</ref>
Gameplay
The players will interact with fellow crewmen in-between missions and visit the hangar where they can upgrade their assigned ships. During missions, they will be able to decide how to engage enemies and personalize their experience by making critical decisions that can affect the entire campaign.<ref name=":2">Open Development as Disruptive Game Design Practice, Clash of Realities 2015/16, pages 555-690, Ortwin Freyermuth, degruyter.com, ISBN: 9783839440315, October 27, 2017</ref>
Features
"Take the role of a rookie StarCitizen:UEE Navy combat pilot in a cinematic single-player epic adventure set in the StarCitizen:Star Citizen universe.
- Battle in the stars and face-to-face as you seamlessly transition between dogfighting and ground combat.
- Serve aboard a massive Navy capital ship as your custom character interacts and builds relationships with a living, breathing crew.
- Cutting-edge performance capture brings unprecedented emotion and life to some of your favorite actors.
- Powered by StarCitizen:CryEngine, Squadron 42 pushes gaming graphics and fidelity to the next level.
- Squadron 42 will have "have some level of difficulty setting".<ref>10 For the Chairman Episode 62 from 2015-08-03; Transcript by SCQA.
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- Squadron 42 will have first-person shooter elements.<ref>10 for the Producers: Episode 13 from 2015-11-23; Transcript by SCQA.
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- Character customization.<ref>10 for the Chairman: Episode 76 from 2016-02-01; Transcript by SCQA.
</ref><ref>10 for the Developers: Episode 10 from 2016-05-16; Transcript by SCQA. </ref>
- Squadron 42 will have planetary landings and possibly procedural generated planets.<ref>Star Citizen: 10 for the Chairman - Episode 85 from 2016-07-20; Transcript by SCQA
</ref><ref>10 for the Developers: Episode 13 from 2016-07-06; Transcript by SCQA. </ref>
- Actions you take can and will affect you when you finally join the PU.<ref>Template:Cite Jump Point</ref>
Co-op
Squadron 42 was announced with Drop in / Drop out co-op play during the original Kickstarter.<ref>Star Citizen, kickstarter.com, April 7 2013</ref> However instead of having a whole co-operative campaign, specific story missions will become playable in co-op after having been completed solo.<ref name=":3">Star Citizen: Reverse the Verse LIVE - Squadron 42 Q&A, Star Citizen, Youtube, Jan 27, 2018</ref>
Cast
The cast of Squadron 42 includes a strong lineup of A-list actors and actresses including:
- Gary Oldman as Admiral StarCitizen:Ernst Bishop
- Mark Hamill as Lieutenant Commander Steve "Old Man" Colton
- Mark Strong as Captain StarCitizen:Thomas Wade
- John Rhys-Davies as StarCitizen:Randall Graves
- Liam Cunningham as Captain StarCitizen:Noah White
- Gillian Anderson as Captain StarCitizen:Rachel MacLaren
- Andy Serkis as StarCitizen:Thul'Oqquray
- Jack Huston as StarCitizen:Cal Mason
- Sophie Wu as Cara "Web" Webster
- Ben Mendelsohn as StarCitizen:Julian Wexler
- StarCitizen:Ian Duncan as the Player character
- Henry Cavill as StarCitizen:Ryan Enright
Development
SQ42 was announced Template:Years or months ago on October 10th 2012 together with Star Citizen and the launch of a StarCitizen:crowdfunding campaign.
The original concept called for missions set inside the Star Citizen game that would allow new players to get their feet wet, learn how to fly, and earn some credits so that they would be properly prepared by the time they entered the multiplayer universe. Depending on how well a player completed this narrative-driven introductory element, they would be released into the Star Citizen universe as a civilian with commensurate skills and resources in the form of in-game connections and reputation, credits, and whatever ship(s) they pledged for, etc. However, with the massive growth and community encouragement to expand the project from its relatively humble beginnings, CIG decided to spin off the module into a much more significant and larger standalone single-player game, complete with extensive performance capture of a starcast, face rigs, and so forth.<ref name=":2" />
After the implementation of more stretch goals (the last stretch goal was achieved 2014-11-10) the StarCitizen:release date was subsequently postponed. In several interviews, Roberts revealed parts of the story.
After CitizenCon in 2015, a new homepage "Answer the Call" showed the date 2016, including an 'Opening Cinematic' speech of Admiral Bishop.<ref>Squadron 42: Bishop Senate Speech (2015-10-10), acc. 2022-10-22
</ref> At CitizenCon 2016 Roberts confirmed a delay of the game.<ref>YouTube - Citizen Con 2016 Presentation - Timecode 1h7m</ref><ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref>
Since then, CIG has provided lore very sparsely and avoided giving any fixed release dates. Reporting about the state of the game continues via the StarCitizen:Roadmap, Newsletter and Monthly Reports. For Christmas 2017 CIG released the one-hour-long Vertical Slice Demo, part of an StarCitizen:Around the Verse Special.<ref>Squadron 42: Around the Verse - Holiday Special 2017 (2017-12-25), acc. 2022-10-22</ref><ref>Squadron 42: Pre-Alpha WIP Gameplay - Vertical Slice w/ Director's Commentary (2017-12-23), acc. 2022-10-22</ref><ref>Squadron 42: Pre-Alpha WIP Gameplay - Vertical Slice (2017-12-23), acc. 2022-10-22</ref> Short visual teasers were presented in 2018<ref>Squadron 42 Cinematic Teaser (2018-10-11), acc. 2022-10-22
</ref> and for Christmas 2019, including known locations from the Vertical Slice.<ref>Squadron 42: 2019 Visual Teaser (2019-12-25), acc. 2022-10-22</ref> In 2020, CIG started a YouTube series called 'StarCitizen:The Briefing Room', which discussed aspects of Squadron 42, but wasn't continued after one episode.<ref>Squadron 42: The Briefing Room - Episode 1 (2020-10-10), acc. 2022-10-22</ref><ref>SQ42 Update & The Briefing Room Introduction (2020-10-10), acc. 2022-10-22</ref> In a Letter from the Chairman, Roberts reiterated that 'it is too early to discuss release or finish dates on Squadron 42 and stated 'I am not willing to compromise the development of a game I believe in with all my heart and soul, and I feel it would be a huge disservice to all the team members that have poured so much love and hard work into Squadron 42 if we rushed it out or cut corners to put it in the hands of everyone who is clamoring for it.'<ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref> Roberts discusssed in a live panel on StarCitizen:CitizenCon 2022 that co-developement with the StarCitizen:Persistent Universe and Squadron 42 continued, without giving any details.<ref>CitizenCon 2952 (via Twitch VOD, the panel starts at 03:33:05 ), acc. 2022-10-08</ref> In the same week, a 9-minute-long video allegedly from Squadron 42 appeared on YouTube, including shots from a battle between UEE and StarCitizen:Vanduul ships, figures from SQ 42, spaceship interiors, and some (known) locations.
it was sold together with StarCitizen:Star Citizen until the game "pledge packages" were split on 2016-02-14.<ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref>
2026 Release date
Squadron 42 was announced as feature complete at CitizenCon on October 22, 2023.<ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref> During StarCitizen:CitizenCon 2024, the release date was announced to be 2026.<ref name=":1">CitizenCon 2954: Day One [Full Broadcast], Star Citizen, YouTube, 2024-10-19</ref> The [[StarCitizen::Category:Financials|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."<ref>Cloud Imperium Games Limited, Annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024, UK companies house, 20 Aug 2025</ref> The December 2025 newsletter maintains the 2026 release date.<ref>Squadron 42 Newsletter, 18 December 2025</ref>
Potential Sequels
Squadron 42 was originally planned to be followed by two episodes. Each episode will be the equivalent of a large AAA game campaign.<ref name=":0">10 for the Chairman: Episode 59 (2015.04.06), Star Citizen, YouTube, 7 april 2015</ref>
- Squadron 42 Episode Two is entitled StarCitizen:Behind Enemy Lines, it was to be made available for free upon release to original and veteran backers who pledged before the $6 million mark but was extended to be made available to everyone who pledged before July 6, 2013. It is the Squadron 42 Mission Disk.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref><ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref>
- Squadron 42 Episode Three will have to be bought separately.<ref name=":0" />
Squadron 42 Soundtrack
Template:Main Squadron 42's soundtrack, composed by StarCitizen:Geoff Zanelli, is not yet available, however some tracks have been publicly shared.<ref>Geoff Zanelli's Website</ref>
Named Tracks by Geoff Zanelli
- Bishop Speech
- Cutlass Tango
- Old Man Teaser
Platforms
Squadron 42 will be available for Windows, and StarCitizen:Linux support is expected since it is planned for Star Citizen.<ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref><ref>PAX East 2014 Panel - "The (Incredible) Future of PC Gaming", StarCitizen:Chris Roberts at Pax East 2014, PC Gamer on YouTube, 12 Apr 2014</ref>
Quotes
- "Squadron 42 [...] is like the ultimate version of how i would do Wing Commander." -Chris Roberts<ref>The State of Star Citizen with Chris Roberts, Back Pocket, Youtube, Feb 27, 2026</ref>
Trivia
- The name is a nod to the working title for Wing Commander.<ref>SGJ Podcast #04: Chris. Freaking. Roberts. Space Game Junkie, 03/12/2013</ref>
- Mark Hamill will be on the poster.<ref>The Game Awards 2015, The Game Awards 2015, It's Mark Hamill facebook fan page, 4 December 2015</ref>
- The Squadron 42 story was loosely sketched out during the Kickstarter, and didn't finalize until 6 months after.<ref>Dragon Con 2015 Q&A, fan report, reddit, 2015</ref>
- The shoot at StarCitizen:The Imaginarium took place from April to mid July 2024.<ref>Star Citizen Live: Narrative History, Star Citizen, YouTube, 2 August 2024</ref>
See also
References
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