The delay train keeps on rolling, folks, and this time it’s Cloud Imperium Games’ turn to announce that their highly anticipated game, Squadron 42, has been pushed back to 2027. Because, you know, twelve years of development just wasn’t enough time to get it right. I mean, what’s a few more months, right? The game’s spiritual successor to Wing Commander, and Chris Roberts, the CEO, wants to make sure it doesn’t get lost in the noise of Grand Theft Auto VI’s launch. Fair enough, I suppose. Who needs to compete with the behemoth that is Rockstar Games, anyway?
The Reason Behind the Delay
According to Roberts, the original plan was to launch Squadron 42 in Q4 2026, but then Grand Theft Auto VI came along and ruined the party. Roberts stated that he doesn’t want his game to get swallowed up by the attention surrounding GTA6, and who can blame him? It’s like trying to release a indie folk album on the same day as a new Taylor Swift single – it’s just not going to get the same attention. So, the new release window is now Q2 2027, which isn’t a massive delay, but still substantial enough to make you go “oh, great, another delay.”
Split Focus
The studio is currently splitting its focus between Squadron 42 and getting Star Citizen to 1.0, with about 55% of the team working on the former and the rest on the latter. Once Squadron 42 is done, the full weight of the studio will be put on Star Citizen, because, you know, that game has only been in development for, oh, eight years or so. Roberts also mentioned that a select few will get to go hands-on with Squadron 42 on October 9th and 10th, so we can expect some coverage in mid-October. Joy.
The Long Road to Launch
Squadron 42 has been in development since 2014, which is, quite frankly, a ridiculously long time. I mean, I’ve seen games get announced, developed, and released in the time it’s taken Cloud Imperium Games to get this game to the finish line. But hey, at least Star Citizen is still getting new content, right? I mean, who needs a finished game when you can have alpha builds and promises of future updates? The game just entered Alpha 4.10, so that’s something, I suppose.
In conclusion, the delay of Squadron 42 to 2027 is just another example of the joys of game development, where timelines are made to be broken, and promises are made to be delayed. But hey, at least we have Grand Theft Auto VI to look forward to, right? And who knows, maybe by the time Squadron 42 finally launches, we’ll all have forgotten about it, and it’ll be like a brand new game all over again. A guy can dream, right?
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