CitizenCon has come and gone, and with it, Cloud Imperium Games has made some key announcements.
The big one is clearly Squadron 42. As reported by IGN, Chris Roberts stated that he is ‘confident’ that the single player campaign will be releasing in 2026.
This announcement came following a demo of the game’s prologue. The one-hour presentation demonstrated the breadth and depth of the game that they had built so far.
However, it was also impossible to ignore the many issues that were still present in the prologue, with bugs, graphical issues, and even several crashes. Even Roberts had to acknowledge the issues, pointing out that they clearly weren’t ready to release it ‘tomorrow.’
The prologue also gave us a good look at the celebrity cast assembled to bring their likenesses and performances in game, including Gillian Anderson, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, and Mark Strong.
While it didn’t get as much attention, Cloud Imperium Games also made a second significant announcement. They showed a trailer for “The Island in the Sky,” AKA Sherman, a new location being built for the main Star Citizen game world.
To put things simply, Sherman is a city in the planet Castra II, part of a new solar system called Castra. It had previously been a military base, reflected in its architecture, but it is now brimming in civilian activity.
So Sherman will be another location for Star Citizen’s players, or Citizens, to migrate into and find their own place in this in-game universe. It’s easy to underestimate or misunderstand how impactful this announcement is.
Cloud Imperium Games has basically revealed they are already working on expanding the game world. They are doing this, even though they don’t have a release date set for Star Citizen itself, after fourteen years of development.
Before the weekend, we had reported on the dire state of video game development behind the scenes at the studio. While Chris Roberts and Cloud Imperium Games continue to sell us on the idea that they are making a game so broad that they really needed this much time to finish it, behind the scenes paints a different picture.
And that picture is of a toxic work environment, where Chris Roberts has mismanaged this grand project on a grand scale. Developers allege that the game is still overworked to the smallest detail. But on top of that, they are also being overworked and underpaid.
While everything about this game will continue to be a cautionary tale until its release, there is a more immediate concern that backers and supporters should have now. If Roberts continues to pursue this game’s development in this manner, he should at least not exploit his workers along the way.
This is an issue that can undo this project if Cloud Imperium Games isn’t careful. And yet, we continue to have no choice but to keep following Cloud Imperium Games’ journey to development.
