Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) said the campaign portion of its controversial space sim has finally been “completed”, more than a decade after it was announced.
Squadron 42 was part of the original Star Citizen Kickstarter campaign that launched in 2012, before it was separated from the main game to become a standalone story campaign. It has suffered multiple delays and long periods of silence.
In 2015, CIG announced a long list of Hollywood stars joining the cast, including Mark Hamill, Gary Oldman, and Gillian Anderson. Flashy cinematic trailers have been released showing the cast in action, with other cast members such as Andy Serkis, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Strong, Harry Treadway, Jack Huston and John Rhys-Davies involved in the spiritual successor to Chris Roberts’ Wing Commander series. .
Now, 11 years later, it appears the finish line for 42 Squadron may be in sight, although CIG has not announced a release window. The developer said that work on the beta and release is now underway. A new trailer featuring Squadron 42 is below:
“We are pleased to announce that 42 Squadron is now complete,” CIG said. “As we move into the polishing phase, we are fully focused on improving and fine-tuning all aspects of the gameplay experience to deliver an unprecedented cinematic adventure. To celebrate this milestone, we have gathered our core development leadership from around the world to share what this means.
“Thank you for your continued support of 42 Squadron.”
Star Citizen is one of the most controversial projects in all of video games. Over the years, it has been called many things, including a scam by those wondering if it would ever launch properly. Its virtual spaceships, some of which cost hundreds of dollars, are often the subject of criticism.
What is undeniable is the huge amount of money raised so far by Star Citizen, CIG Displayed on their website. At the time of publishing this article, Star Citizen has raised $616,272,619 from just over 4.8 million accounts.
Wesley is IGN’s UK news editor. You can find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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