Following up on a report that the beta for Star Citizen’s first-person shooter module has been put on hold, the space simulation’s community manager Ben Lesnick disputed the “indefinitely delayed” label given to Star Marine.
The beta for Star Marine was intended to be released this spring, but when it was delayed no timeframe for when it would be ready was available.
“The phrase ‘delayed indefinitely’ being bandied around is incorrect. We do not have a release date to announce yet, which is not the same thing,” Lesnick said, adding that “the phrase has a different meaning beyond the individual words” in video game development.
“‘Delayed indefinitely’ is a games industry PR term for ‘cancelled,’ Lesnick said. “Anyone (and apparently this is a great many people) reading clickbait headlines will believe we’ve cancelled Star Marine. This is not the case, to the point that it implies the absolute opposite of what’s actually happening.”
Lesnick would not provide a timetable for when the Star Marine beta would be available, but said, “We are talking about a delay of weeks and not months/years/decades.”
Cloud Imperium Games is apprehensive to give a target date for the beta, “Because the worry is that we might find ourselves in exactly the same position when the current set of issues are resolved,” Lesnick said.
Star Marine is one of four modules for Star Citizen, the others of which are a social module called Planetside; the first episode of a single-player campaign called Squadron 42; and a persistent universe.
