Squadron 42, the single-player campaign developed alongside Star Citizen, now has a release window of the second quarter of 2027. Chris Roberts announced the change in his Letter From The Chairman on August 30, 2026, after a year in which CIG had repeatedly reaffirmed a 2026 launch.
The reason is not the game. The plan was to launch around the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo in the fourth quarter of 2026, and Roberts said he would not release a project with twelve years of work in it into the attention around Grand Theft Auto VI. Below is what CIG said at each step this year, what changes in October, and what the campaign actually is for anyone who has only followed Star Citizen.
The 2026 timeline
The campaign was declared feature complete at CitizenCon on October 22, 2023, and the 2026 release window was announced at CitizenCon 2024. From there the year went like this.
- CIG’s financial statements for 2024 named Squadron 42 the nearest-term priority with a targeted 2026 release, followed by Star Citizen’s 1.0 multiplayer release
- The December 2025 Squadron 42 newsletter maintained 2026
- In May 2026 Roberts said the plan was the end of 2026 but that he could not guarantee it, citing a release in the industry that everyone had to pay attention to
- The June 2026 newsletter maintained 2026
- On August 30, 2026 the Letter From The Chairman moved the release to the second quarter of 2027
Why it moved
Roberts wrote that the internal plan had been a fourth-quarter launch around IAE. Grand Theft Auto VI is not launching on PC this November, but he expects nearly every outlet and most content creators to be covering it, leaving little room for anything else. Having looked at release windows at the start of 2027, the team decided the second quarter gave Squadron 42 a better chance of holding the wider gaming world’s attention.
The letter also explained why the campaign has taken as long as it has. Development began in 2014. For years engineers were pulled onto Star Citizen to get patches out, and after CitizenCon 2023 much of the gameplay engineering team spent a large part of 2024 bringing features shown for Squadron into Star Citizen instead. Late in 2024 CIG shifted the balance back, and the split is now about 55 to 45 in Squadron 42’s favour for the final months. Finishing it, Roberts said, is what frees the majority of the studio to work on Star Citizen 1.0.
What happens in October
A small number of original backers and long-time Star Citizen content creators will play Squadron 42 on October 9 and 10, 2026. CIG said it would make further announcements about release plans during those sessions and give a specific release date shortly afterwards. Until then the only official date is the quarter.
What Squadron 42 is
It is a cinematic single-player campaign set in the Star Citizen universe, beginning during the events at Vega II in 2945. You play a rookie UEE Navy pilot flying with the 42nd Squadron and serving aboard the UEES Stanton in the Odin system, with branching storylines, first-person combat as well as dogfighting, and a performance-captured cast that includes Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong, Gillian Anderson, Andy Serkis, Liam Cunningham, John Rhys-Davies and Henry Cavill. Roberts has described it as the ultimate version of how he would make Wing Commander.
Some story missions will become playable in co-op after you finish them solo. It ships for Windows, with Linux support expected in line with Star Citizen. Two further episodes were planned from the start; the second, Behind Enemy Lines, is free to backers who pledged before July 6, 2013, and the third will be sold separately.
It is not part of a Star Citizen package
Squadron 42 and Star Citizen were sold together until the packages were split on February 14, 2016. A Star Citizen game package bought today does not include the campaign, and the campaign will not require Star Citizen. If you want both, budget for both; if you only want the story, you do not need a Star Citizen account at all until the release, though Roberts has said choices in Squadron 42 will carry consequences into the persistent universe.
What this means for new players
If Squadron 42 is what brought you here, there is nothing to buy yet and no date to plan around beyond the second quarter of 2027; wait for the October announcements. If you want to try Star Citizen in the meantime, the live game is a separate purchase, and the referral bonus applies to that account whether or not you ever buy the campaign. Our Star Citizen referral code guide explains how the 50,000 UEC signup bonus works and how to apply code STAR-6WPK-3K56 before you enlist.
Frequently Asked Questions
The second quarter of 2027, announced by Chris Roberts on August 30, 2026. A specific date is due shortly after the backer play sessions on October 9 and 10, 2026.
To avoid launching into the media attention around Grand Theft Auto VI in late 2026. Roberts said the campaign is feature complete and the move is about timing, not readiness.
No. The two have been sold separately since February 14, 2016. A Star Citizen game package does not include the campaign.
Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong, Gillian Anderson, Andy Serkis, Liam Cunningham, John Rhys-Davies, Jack Huston, Sophie Wu, Ben Mendelsohn and Henry Cavill, among others.
Specific story missions become playable in co-op after you have completed them solo. It is not a full co-op campaign.
Source: Letter From The Chairman, August 30, 2026. The release change and studio details come from Chris Roberts’s August 30, 2026 Letter From The Chairman; the timeline and campaign details come from the Star Citizen Wiki’s Squadron 42 page.
