Star Citizen's singleplayer mode “will be done when it is done"

(Image credit: Cloud Imperium Games)

Squadron 42 – the singleplayer campaign of Cloud Imperium's wildly-successful space sim, Star Citizen – has "a ways to go" before release.

In a recent AMA, Cloud Imperium's Chris Roberts acknowledged the team hadn't been "effectively" updating fans on the progress, but said he didn't "want to give the experience and story away".

“We haven’t been happy with how effectively we’ve been showing progress on Squadron 42, as we felt the previous format didn’t do a good job of all in communicating just how much work is going on,” admitted Chris Roberts (thanks, PCGN). “Squadron 42 is a tricky project to communicate on as we really don’t want to give the experience and story away which can make updating on certain content or features challenging.

“Squadron 42 will be done when it is done, and will not be released just to make a date but instead once all the tech and content is finished, polished and it plays great. I am not willing to compromise making a game I believe in with all my heart and soul,” he later told the community. “Even though everyone (including me) wants Squadron 42 sooner than later, it would be doing a huge disservice to everyone working really hard on the project and all of you that are looking forward to it to deliver something that isn’t great.”

Ambitious space-sim Star Citizen hit another milestone earlier this year, topping an eye-watering $300 million (£240m) with its crowdfunding efforts.

The space simulator that boasts a "persistent universe" from Cloud Imperium Games had a massive surge in donations in June, jumping from around $4 million (£3.1m) in donations April 2020 to a whopping $15 million (£11.9 million) in May 2020, according to the crowdfunding timeline graph on the official website.

The site also intimated that the game claims 2.7 million users, too, although it's unclear which of those are active players and not just those that have signed up to see what all the fuss is about in free-to-play events.

As Connor summarised a little while back, Star Citizen is the most crowdfunded thing, er, ever, but Star Citizen has become one of the strangest stories in modern gaming. But though it's enjoyed by millions of people, Star Citizen might just prove that more crowdfunding isn't always a good thing, particularly as the bigger something gets, the slower it gets, too…

“The race isn't finished yet," creator Chris Roberts said several years ago when the game had generated "just" £124m. "Wait till the finish line is crossed and then I'll say people can make judgments about whether it was the right way or not. Instinctively, it was the way that felt right to me."