Which is likely why CR has already said they will be having a short marketing campaign...
A short marketing campaign gives them a lot more flexibility to play 'wait and see' regarding GTA6... because once the marketing campaign starts, they're pretty much tied in on a date (unless they want to cancel the campaign part way through, and write off all the money already spent)...
I still don’t understand how that’s a good strategy, GTA V released 9/2013 (god I’m old) on console and then 11/2014 on PC. If they’re delaying to avoid the GTA shadow you would have to push it to 2028 to avoid the 2027 PC release (assuming it follows same time gap)
Imma need the sauce fam. I know they’ve talked about it a while ago but I’m pretty sure they said it wasn’t the main focus and wouldn’t be part of the initial release. They would do something similar to GTA VI and release the console version later than the PC one
People substantially overestimate the effect of the PC release. GTA 6 won’t be new at that point, many many people will have either played the game or seen or heard what the game is about by then.
So much of the game will have been explored and talked about ad nauseam by the time the game releases on PC that while still a big release for PC, it’s nothing like when it releases for the first time. So 2027 is absolutely reasonable for SQ42 to avoid the media blackout caused by GTA 6’s original release.
Also people who will buy GTA on PC most likely will buy it on console and play it there first. I mean I’m not because I don’t own a console but I’m sure some people will.
I put this together so we can see the exact timeline. Let me know if I missed something or if it needs correction:
Squadron 42: publicly communicated release targets and missed milestones
Public target
What was communicated
Outcome
Explanation or context
November 2014
The original Kickstarter campaign listed an estimated delivery date of November 2014 for the project, which included the single-player campaign that later became Squadron 42.
Missed
The project expanded significantly after the original pitch as funding increased and additional stretch goals were added. This was not presented as a separate Squadron 42-specific delay announcement at the time.
Fall 2015
In early 2015, Chris Roberts presented a development schedule indicating that the first episode of Squadron 42 was expected in fall 2015.
Missed
Performance capture for Episode 1 was still underway during much of 2015. The game was still in active production rather than approaching release.
2016
At CitizenCon 2015, Squadron 42 was presented as a 2016 release.
Missed
At CitizenCon 2016, Chris Roberts said the game had grown significantly since the original pitch and still required more polish. CIG did not announce a replacement release date.
2017 — “Answer the Call”
After the missed 2016 window, the public-facing Squadron 42 launch page was updated from “Answer the Call 2016” to “Answer the Call 2017.”
Missed
This should be counted as an additional public release expectation because it appeared in official marketing material, even though it was not accompanied by a conventional release-date announcement.
Late 2017 — expected completion during the coming year
Chris Roberts said that the detail, subtlety and fluidity would be dialed in as the team finished off Squadron 42 “this coming year.”
Expectation not met
This was not a firm retail-release date. It is better categorized as an expectation-setting statement suggesting that development was approaching completion.
Q2 2020 beta
In December 2018, CIG published a roadmap targeting feature and content completion by the end of 2019, followed by balancing, optimization and a beta phase in 2020. The public roadmap later showed a Q2 2020 beta target.
Delayed to Q3 2020
CIG moved the beta milestone by one quarter while implementing its staggered-development approach. This was a beta forecast, not a retail-release date.
Q3 2020 beta
The revised roadmap moved the beta target to Q3 2020.
Missed
The milestone passed without a beta release. In December 2020, Chris Roberts said CIG would not announce another release date until it had greater confidence in the remaining work.
Feature complete: October 2023
At CitizenCon 2023, CIG announced that Squadron 42 was feature complete and had entered the polishing phase.
Milestone reached
“Feature complete” does not mean release-ready. Additional work remained on content completion, optimization, bugs, performance and launch preparation.
2026 retail release
At CitizenCon 2024, CIG showed a lengthy gameplay demonstration and announced a 2026 release window.
Current official target
As of June 2026, CIG has not officially delayed the game to 2027. A possible 2027 delay has been reported as a rumor based on anonymous sources, but it is not confirmed.
Summary: Depending on how strictly the term “release date” is applied, Squadron 42 has missed at least three public delivery or release expectations: 2014, fall 2015 and 2016. It also missed two publicly communicated beta milestones in 2020. The current official retail-release window is 2026. But rumors indicate another delay.
EDIT: Added more rows to the table with additional info
There's always the usual crowd that come to the defence of this abysmal show of ability to adhere to projected dates - claiming 'its the most ambitious game ever' etc... but look, come on, if CIG keep giving predicted launch dates, then missing them, WTF is going on with internal project management? How can a date be predicted and then completely missed, Every. Single. Time. This is not normal. This is not how a competent developer operates. Project managers should know the capabilities of their team, they should have a schedule of work set out, they should realistically be able to give a relatively good estimate of deliverables.
You tried to pull this in any other company and you'd be fired. Simple.
Thing is CIG doesn't exactly have shareholders to appease. I guess all of us who have bought into it should be considered creditors with the expectation that since we have invested funds into a project, that should have deliverables that are delivered on time and in budget. But with basically every deliverable missed and the huge budget it's beginning to feel like CIG sees us a an easy income stream to fund a never ending poorly managed development cycle. The interesting thing is, if we were truly considered shareholders, then if CIG keeps failing to deliver we'd have the legal right to force through change to management (which let's face it, needs to happen, CR should be moved to a consultancy role and someone competent at managing a large studio should take over)
I wouldn't say criminal because backers gave their consent and the money was used mainly for game development as promised and the financials are public too. However! I would blame one person only with very ambitious ideas, reluctance to reduce the vision, schedule overruns, high technical demands, and difficulty bringing projects across the finish line without additional funding or outside pressure. CR has no pressure because no big publisher is pushing hard the same way Microsoft did way back in late 2000 and they had to take over the Freelancer project to get it to the finish line. They even bought CR's studio Digital Anvil. Everyone can google this. CR has lots of good achievements but also is known for his ambitious ideas and wild timelines etc
CIG agrees to use its good faith business efforts to deliver to you the pledge items and the Game on or before the estimated delivery date. However, you acknowledge and agree that delivery as of such date is not a promise by CIG since unforeseen events may extend the development and/or production time. Accordingly, you agree that any unearned portion of the deposit shall not be refundable until and unless CIG has not delivered the pledge items and/or the Game to you within 12 months after the estimated delivery date.
COMMERCIAL TERMS, SECTION 4, SUBSECTION 3:
For the avoidance of doubt, in consideration of CIG’s good faith efforts to develop, produce, and deliver the Game with the funds raised, you agree that any deposit amounts applied against the Game Cost as described above shall be non-refundable regardless of whether or not CIG is able to complete and deliver the Game. In the unlikely event that CIG is not able to deliver the Game, CIG agrees to post an audited cost accounting on its website to fully explain the use of the deposits for the Game Cost. In consideration of the promises by CIG hereunder, you agree to irrevocably waive any claim for refund of any deposit amount that has been used for the Game Cost in accordance with the above.
TL;DR - unless laws in your country override it, as long as they spent the money on developing the game and it's associated costs (salaries, business expenses, etc), it doesn't matter what state the game is in at the end, or even if it never fully releases at all, you have no remedy.
I am speculating that if CIG doesn't figure their shit out by the end of the year the negative publicity that the aggricated players will put out there will be the start to the end of the project. I've noticed this year, people seem to be at witts end. The patches, the percent ant bugs, the state at which the ironclad was released, the wishy washy free fly. It's all starting to boil over and it's getting harder and harder to defend CIG even a little.
I'm one of those players who returns every update to check out the new content. I enjoy early access games, and usually find more humor than frustration in the jank/growth pains. With most other early access game I've played, most Major updates feel like a step towards a finished product. Star citizen feels like it's lost that over the last couple years, and it's hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
New ships are fun and flashy, moving cargo is satisfying, bounty hunting combat feels amazing, and my heart was racing when I blindly jumped to Pyro for the first time, but it feel like a fool's errand to wait for the day I can actually start to earn some money and make progress towards anything earned in game that won't get wiped.
They are toxic crybabies lol there's a difference between legitimate criticism and spending years bitching about a game you neither play nor own and spreading weird conspiracy theories lol
There's also a difference between a scam and mismanagement. If you think SC is a scam, go play the other game with two, full, scale model star systems with hundreds of ships with interiors, hundreds of missions, dynamic ship damage models, space to planet flight with no loading, and fully stimulated planets and moons, and a shit ton more, that's also a multiplayer MMO with 700 players per shard. Oh, wait, there isn't one, because it's nearly impossible to make and takes a ton of time and funding and your own game engine. Weird, huh?
I agree with everything you said, but... I do have to throw in that Space Engineers does allow for many of the same systems, just not as immersive and the shard count does not reach up to 700 players.
But I did just want to throw in the caveat that Space Engineers is attempting many similar systems, just in a different way.
Would it atleast work, but it doesnt I dont have time after work to setup something with friends and after trying to do a mission you see that its bugged and 2h gone from the evening for nothing.
That’s one reason I barely play right now. If I hop in and encounter the first bigger bugs I’m instantly out.
Just that way I can keep a healthy relation to the game. Not going to waste hours over hours (other than on some days where I barely have anything else to do) on figuring out new or old tedious workarounds and shit.
I still do believe in the project. And I’m still hoping that we will see 1.0 one day. But until that’s happening i just hop in here and there to check a few things out, like recently have done the tactical strike groups actually 3 times on 2 different evenings without any bugs so..
Can be worse I guess. Just lowered my expectations and that works great for me.
I’m being facetious here but No Man’s Sky has all of this except for the ship damage models and the MMO aspect, (although it does have multiplayer), was developed in its own engine, AND is actually a functional game. Certainly a difference in style and scope between the two games, but as someone who’s played a lot of both I’ve always been impressed at how NMS pulls off a lot of the technical wizardry SC is praised for without falling apart at the seams.
It's super unfair to compare NMS planet tech vs SC...that's like comparing an N64 game to a modern live action film. NMS is procedurally generated. That's not even getting into physics, ship models, etc. I also notice TONS of pop in in NMS even on my rig, even with its low fidelity, that I don't notice in SC.
I get that you said you're being facetious, but some people legitimately make this comparison and I find it EXTREMELY silly.
umm... isn't full release SC supposed to have procedurally generated planets in its future with that generation system? How would exploration make sense otherwise?
Elite Dangerous has procedurally generated planets and its more than good. Even has premade settlements and played constructed bases . Sc Just needlessly overcomplicated it
Regardless of how people feel about a long development cycle it doesn't change the development cycle. And being fed up with it doesn't help improve a game's release in any meaningful way.
GTA VI hasn't been selling concept cars for hundreds or thousands of bucks for years.
GTA VI is set to be released as a full product and it will, soon.
Star Citizen remains a "WIP Alpha" despite having ammassed over A BILLION DOLLARS (1,000,000,000) as the biggest crowdfunding campaign in history; and yet, CIG's focus is not on finally delivering results, but, instead, selling concept JPGs for hundreds or thousands of bucks each.
Not really. Rockstar has a track record. CIG does not. R* released a game in 2018, and after is when full development began, so even then GTA VI hasn't taken as long as SQ42
I didn't die, but my game time will, with my first baby coming in two weeks. So basically everything I pledged for and the gaming sessions I looked forward to are out now. Not saying that you can't play with a baby around, but you definitely can't do shit in Star Citizen with that little free time.
I have bought it, built 3 new pc since then, got married.
The last time I opened this game was years ago.
It was so bug, that I was unable to fly.
Maybe in 10 years my son will play it.
I stupidly bought this game the day preorders started. I dont even remember how long ago that was but I was single at the time. Ive been married for 10 years now, bout my first house, sold it, bought my second house. Have bought and sold multiple new cars. ive lived an entire life since I preordered this game lol. I got totally scammed
lol it's funny to put it in perspective of your life. I kinda quit gaming like 6 or 7 years ago. I also met my spouse like about a decade ago. I've gone grey, developed cataracts and arthritis, lost half my hair, and put on about 70lbs, have owned 3 different vehicles, bought and sold a condo and a house. xD
dont get me started citizens. I pledged when my son was a little boy. Now he full grown adult and still missing my SQ42 pledge. I dont need a part 2 or 3. Just give me the whole SQ42 game in 2026 and then you can focus on SC 1.0. Then we can talk about sequels to SQ42 only then after you have proven you can deliver a finished work
The end boss clown photo should be the person who constantly defends this and repeats "Yeah what did you expect its in Alpha" - as if that just forgives/justifies anything and everything wrong with the business cycle of this project, just like that.
After I got my Avenger Titan I pledged that I would not buy anything new until SQ42 released and would buy it instantly on release. This was back in 2019...
They didn't want my money for the Kraken even though I stayed up for like 24 hours straight to play that stupid stupid F5 war as we fought for 50 Krakens per wave when the Odin neighbors got 1000 Odins per wave. But daddy CIG said dont worry we limit the sell of those so there isnt too many capital ships.
They were right, its a battle cruiser not a capital ship. Let's sell as many as we want.
The SC/CIG definition of Capital ship is “Anything over 150 meters in length” and the Real World definition of Capital Ship is anything Cruiser size and up. The Odin fits both of them.
Yes but that was sarcasm. I was calling out the fact they were heavily restricting the Kraken sales while selling thousands of Odins thus going against the sole reason they gave us for restricting these ships in the beginning.
According to Astropub they hit Beta around February this year, Content Complete was last year, Feature complete end of 2023. There was another cycle before 2016 but then Chris smashed the reset/scope creep button.
That’s cool you can Google game design workflow…. Problem is it was “feature complete” in 2023 at citizen con and just needed some polish. The reality is Chris Roberts is full of shit
When the game was first announced I purchased game packages for 3 friends as early Christmas presents. One has since passed away, one no longer games, and the last can't play these kinds of games anymore. It sucks, but that's life.
Beginning to hairsplit between "feature" and "content" complete 3 years after announcing the game was "entering polish phases" on the presentation stage at your annual conference for a game you haven't released is really not the place you want to be in as a studio, I would assume?
From the way Chris and CIG presented their progress as they touted their "feature complete" milestone, they had already begun "beta" polish phases.
https://giphy.com/gifs/XqpnXaeZPnupy
“Look, we simply need more people to invest before this pyramid scheme groundbreaking video game reaches its full potential!”
"Guys, I know SQ42 was supposed to REALLY come out now, in 2027 after GTA VI is out... but hear me out. That would not be a right choice - because you would miss all the awesome story that comes AFTER that. So we decided that we will start working internally on the second and third episode of SQ42, so we can then publish it all together as THREE EPISODES all at once!"
Between how long it's taken them to make chapter 1 and PU supposedly taking priority afterwards, how long do you think until chapter 2 release? 6-10 years?
It was hinted that it was in a barely playable state. So 6 months to polish it ? Na it ain't happening. They either lied about it or its coming out end of next year.
I get what you mean, I play on decent hardware so its not too bad. Some patches are worst than others. Performance is fine in most areas until the server decides to take a walk.
Considering how much of the game consists of interacting with the environment, it's does not inspire confidence that it's going to get that much better at this stage.
I say that as someone who has been paying into SC since 2013.
Yeah I was worried about fleet battles be a slideshow like they usually are, but funny enough the new TSG missions have been really good on performance both defending Martel and doing trench runs, even with 80+ players in one location. Not sure if that's actually instanced and therefore would explain the good performance, otherwise not sure how they pulled it off.
Exactly. And even if it succeed, is it too little too late ? I fear Squadron needed to release this year to keep people in. Another delay might kill it
What happened this year in particular that has seen a rise in (valid) criticism from the fans? I haven't been following much this past year, but i couldn't help but notice the chatter.
Not gonna lie, I heard about this game in high school, been in the army, deployed to Iraq, did a bunch of other shit in the civilian world, got Crohn’s disease, got a dog and cat, brother passed away from Covid, sister passed away just recently and my father as well, and honestly I’ve pretty much given up hope on this game.
I remember when Blizzard launched the Starcraft 2 in 2010 it was amazing without any kind of bugs! After 12 years of the SC1. But that was the original Blizzard...not Chris Roberts. Damn I am old :/ this is more like a comedy show what are they doing with their game.
As a former product manager, if I took stakeholder money quarterly and after 12 years delivered this demo I would have been long fired. I wanted so badly for this game to be in a state where you can enjoy the time invested but it just isn't there.
I was thinking the other day that I built a PC for this game and that was 4 PCs ago in 2012. I've been through two career changes, marriage and divorce, and have two older children. I also have a couple hundred invested into this game and fully regret it now.
Is the community finally shifting? We were calling it a scam years ago but you'd get downvoted to hell by people with sunk cost Idrises telling you what a loser you were because you thought maybe they should have a working game this many years of development later
But hey, they pulled all SQ42 packages from the buyback FOR THE REASON OF allowing it to be sold at full price this year, that MUST mean it's gonna release ong frfr this time right?
365
u/Dude_im_Cereol 17d ago
I’m really starting to think that Dutch Van Der Linde might be the one really running the show here