Overview
Squadron 42 is the story-driven single-player campaign in the Star Citizen universe. It’s a standalone game, so you need neither Star Citizen nor other players for it.
The year is 2945: outlaws and hostile aliens threaten the fringes of the empire. You join the navy of the United Empire of Earth (UEE) as a freshly minted recruit, get assigned to a massive capital ship and work your way up from inexperienced rookie to a key figure in the conflict. Along the way you can expect dogfights in space, missions on foot on space stations, outposts and in war zones, and lots of time with your crew. The campaign is supposed to last around 40 to 50 hours. There’s no co-op mode, you experience the story alone.
Chris Roberts, the creator of Wing Commander, sees Squadron 42 as its “spiritual successor”. That’s exactly why it was also the centerpiece of the 2012 crowdfunding campaign that got Star Citizen off the ground.
You can’t pre-order Squadron 42 yet at the moment (as of October 2026). If you buy a game package for Star Citizen, it only includes the online MMO, not the single-player campaign. You can already add Squadron 42 to your Steam wishlist, though.
The online universe of Star Citizen, on the other hand, you can already play today. You can read what’s currently possible there under current state.
Release and wishlist
The current release window is Q2 2027, so sometime between April and June. There’s no exact date yet.
It was actually supposed to be ready by the end of 2026, around the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo (IAE) in November. Then came GTA 6. At the end of August 2026, Chris Roberts explained in his “Letter from the Chairman” that he didn’t want his passion project to get lost in the media hype around Rockstar’s blockbuster. So the launch was pushed back by a few more months. Anyone who has been following Squadron 42 for a while takes it in stride: delays are practically a tradition here.
Since October 10, 2026, Squadron 42 has its own Steam page.
You’ll also find all the official news on the official Squadron 42 website.
Collector’s Edition and marketing campaign
For collectors, there will be a physical Collector’s Edition, including a plush figure. CIG hasn’t revealed yet what exactly is in the box and what it will cost.
Before the release, there will also be a marketing campaign lasting exactly 42 days. With this game’s title, anything else would have been a missed opportunity.
Trailer
Right in time for the launch of the Steam page, CIG released a brand-new trailer featuring the complete star ensemble. Space battles, ground combat and lots of cutscenes included:
State of development
As early as CitizenCon 2023, CIG announced that Squadron 42 is “feature complete”, meaning it contains all the planned gameplay mechanics. Since then, the game has been in the polishing phase: hunting bugs, optimizing performance, fine-tuning. According to Chris Roberts, in the last months before release the larger part of the studio is even working on Squadron 42 instead of Star Citizen. The story was originally designed for several episodes. What comes out in 2027 is the first part. According to CIG, work on a sequel won’t start right away: after the release, the focus shifts to Star Citizen 1.0 first.
At CitizenCon 2024, CIG played the game’s intro live on stage, including two crashes. Live demos are live demos. You’ll find the YouTube video of it, which is over an hour long, here:
First impressions from the preview
On October 9 and 10, 2026, selected early backers and long-time content creators got to play for about five hours themselves at the CIG studio in Manchester. The first reports are mostly positive:
- Praised are the cinematic presentation, very detailed faces and environments, and NPCs that visibly go about their own daily lives.
- Sound: The testers are thrilled by the sound, and many describe it as outstanding.
- Combat: Enemies try to flank you and get fallen comrades back on their feet. In space, the Maelstrom tech makes sure ships are torn apart spectacularly.
- More critical views are held on the many cutscenes and the rather linear structure. If you expect the freedom of Star Citizen, you get a much more guided experience here.
- Bugs were still around too, but that’s what the polishing phase is for.
Cast
One of the highlights of Squadron 42 is definitely the cast. The cast list reads like the guest list of an Oscars party:
- Mark Hamill (Star Wars, Wing Commander) as veteran Lt. Cdr. Steve “Old Man” Colton (YouTube teaser)
- Gary Oldman (The Fifth Element, Harry Potter, Batman and many more) as Admiral Ernst Bishop, a high-ranking officer of the UEE
- Gillian Anderson (The X-Files, The Crown) as Captain Rachel MacLaren (YouTube interview)
- Henry Cavill (The Witcher, Man of Steel)
- Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One, Captain Marvel)
- Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones)
- Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton, Wicked)
- Damson Idris (Snowfall, F1)
- John Rhys-Davies (Indiana Jones, The Lord of the Rings, Wing Commander) as Randall Graves
- Mark Strong (Kingsman, Shazam) as Captain Thomas Wade
- Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars) as the main antagonist Thul’Óqquray (YouTube behind the scenes)
On top of that come well-known voices from the gaming world like Jane Perry (Hitman, Returnal) and Alix Wilton Regan (Borderlands 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition) and many more.
Gameplay
Squadron 42 is more than a classic space shooter. It mixes different gameplay mechanics, all closely woven into the story:
- Space combat: Dogfights in space, very much in the tradition of Wing Commander.
- First-person sections: Things get going on foot too, with missions aboard ships, on stations and on ground operations. You can expect a big arsenal of weapons, stealth sections, hacking, tricky puzzles and much more.
- Interacting with the crew: The crew on board isn’t just a backdrop. Thanks to an interactive “Social AI”, crew members greet you as you pass, build a relationship with you and treat you with more or less respect. How that develops is decided by your choices in conversations and missions, and with it your reputation and your rank.
- Ship systems and tech: You’re part of the crew of a huge capital ship. Here you get to know various ship systems and areas and keep the ship running.
- Story-driven missions: Unlike in the open Star Citizen, everything here is clearly structured, with main missions, cutscenes and cinematic staging. The transitions between cinematic scenes and gameplay are supposed to be seamless.
- Free time on board: Squadron 42 isn’t an open world, but you can go exploring away from the story too. Between missions you have free time to track down collectibles, chat with the crew or hit the gym. A pilot has to work on their fitness every now and then too.
Tech and comfort
Graphics, sound and VR
Squadron 42 uses new lighting with global illumination and ray tracing that makes the light look much more natural. Like Star Citizen, the game gets by with practically no loading screens: the only one you’ll see is when you die. And if you own a VR headset, you’re in luck: VR is supported from day one.
Difficulty
The difficulty can be finely adjusted, separately for FPS firefights and dogfights. If you’re an ace in the cockpit but would rather not break a sweat on foot (or the other way round), you set both to suit you. For real pros there’s the “Legatus” difficulty, the hardest of all. It’s only unlocked once you’ve finished the campaign, though.
Accessibility and controls
Besides mouse and keyboard, you can also play with a gamepad, including aim assist. There are also subtitles and settings for color blindness.
Achievements
For achievement hunters: Squadron 42 has achievements, and they’re the same on Steam and at RSI. No matter where you buy the game, you won’t miss out on anything.
Language
Squadron 42 is voiced in English only.
System requirements
The preliminary minimum requirements are already listed on the Steam page:
- Processor: quad-core CPU, Intel i7 Sandy Bridge or newer, or AMD Bulldozer or newer
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics card: DirectX 11.1 compatible with 8 GB VRAM, DirectX 12
- Storage: 150 GB
That sounds surprisingly reasonable. But as we all know, “runs” and “runs nicely” are two different things.
Squadron 42 and Star Citizen
Even though Squadron 42 is a standalone game, Star Citizen benefits from it in several ways:
- Rewards: If you play Squadron 42, you unlock items for Star Citizen along the way. CIG is still keeping secret what exactly.
- Tech: Most of the tech from Squadron 42 is supposed to land in Star Citizen as quickly as possible too.
- Developers: After the release, all developers except a very small team switch over to Star Citizen to finally make noticeable progress towards 1.0.