23 December 2025

Star Citizen Dev Gives Exciting Update on Squadron 42 Progress

By newsgame

Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games says Squadron 42 has reached a major milestone, describing the game as fully playable from start to finish. The update was shared in the company’s annual year-in-review letter, where CIG also reaffirmed the release window for the long-awaited space combat title, which has been in development alongside Star Citizen for over a decade.

Sometimes described as Star Citizen‘s single-player campaign despite technically being a separate entity, Squadron 42 was originally announced in late 2012, with CIG confirming its existence as part of Star Citizen‘s historic Kickstarter campaign. During the October 2023 edition of CitizenCon, the developer described the game as feature-complete, indicating it had entered the alpha stage. The company’s 2024 financial report later stated that Squadron 42 is targeting a 2026 release.

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CIG Reaffirms Squadron 42’s 2026 Launch Window

The 2026 launch window has now been reiterated in the latest letter from CIG founder and CEO Chris Roberts, who also provided an update on the game’s current status. “All chapters are now fully playable from beginning to end,” the executive wrote, adding that the development team is “regularly” running full playthroughs as part of its ongoing testing. The project is now pushing toward a beta, with current work focused on technical polish.

CIG has been promising a Squadron 42 beta since the last decade, with Roberts now acknowledging that many fans are “eager to play” the game after all this time. The official also ruled out the possibility of a “long, drawn-out marketing campaign,” noting that the company has already released numerous gameplay previews and trailers that convey the game’s core experience. As a result, Squadron 42 is expected to receive a more specific release window—or possibly even a firm launch date—fairly close to its debut. Since CIG has yet to narrow down the 2026 launch window, and with only days remaining in 2025, a release in the second half of next year appears more likely than one in the first.

Squadron 42 Will Take Approximately 40 Hours to Beat

In his letter, Roberts also shared a few more tidbits about the upcoming title. “Squadron 42 is a large game, over forty hours in length,” he wrote. “It’s becoming increasingly clear how special it will be once the remaining polish, optimization, and bug fixing is complete.” Part of that referenced appeal likely stems from Squadron 42’s star-studded cast, which includes Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, Andy Serkis, Henry Cavill, Sophie Wu, and Liam Cunningham, among other famous actors.

CIG Calls 2025 Star Citizen’s ‘Year of Playability’

Reflecting on other recent developments, Roberts dubbed 2025 Star Citizen‘s “Year of Playability,” citing the addition of two star systems, the return of the asteroid mining settlement Levski, increased patch frequency, and the introduction of server meshing technology in update 4.0.1, released in late January. Looking at the immediate future, CIG plans to improve core systems such as inventory, crafting, social tools, and engineering throughout 2026. Server meshing is also set to continue evolving to gradually support larger groups within shared instances.

Squadron 42 is a large game, over forty hours in length, and it’s becoming increasingly clear how special it will be once the remaining polish, optimization, and bug fixing is complete.

Unlike Squadron 42, Star Citizen itself is still without a release window. In August 2025, Canadian outlet La Presse reported that the long-awaited game was planned to hit the market one or two years after Squadron 42, citing sources from Cloud Imperium Games Montreal, previously known as Turbulent Games. Shortly beforehand, a CIG job listing suggested that Squadron 42 might be coming to consoles. Star Citizen itself is unlikely to ever expand beyond PC due to its sheer (and ever-growing) technical requirements and complex control scheme, among other reasons.