The single-player story companion to the upcoming and long-awaited Star Citizen, called Squadron 42, has just been delayed by about three months, and is expected to release in the third quarter of 2020.

Star Citizen is the result of a Kickstarter campaign, launched in 2012 by game developer Chris Roberts. Roberts' past games, Wing Commander and Freelancer, were combat simulators, placing players inside the cockpits of ships battling in space. The Kickstarter promised a new space simulation game with both online/offline single-player content and a mod-able multiplayer component. The crowdfunding campaign was a massive success, and received over $200 million from its backers.

Since then, development of the game has been notoriously troubled, with some backers questioning the ability of the developers to accomplish their lofty goals, which has led to legal action taken by some backers once the development of the game failed to meet promised deadlines.

Regardless, out of the game's numerous initial supporters, plenty are still eagerly anticipating the game's release. This also includes Squadron 42, a game being developed in tandem with Star Citizen that offers a full single-player campaign set in the Star Citizen universe. It's meant to be something of a spiritual successor to Roberts' previous work in Wing Commander.

Squadron 42 features voice work by Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham and Andy Serkis. Players' decisions in the game can effect their character in the multiplayer Star Citizen universe, though each game is standalone and doesn't require the other to play.

The original release date for Squadron 42 announced via the Kickstarter campaign was 2014, and until now, Q2 2020 was its new, delayed release date. Complications with its development cycle have led to a pushed-back date of Q3 2020 for an initial beta release.

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Specifically, the planned method of developing new content for the game has led to the greater amount of time required to finish an initial build. Its developers are utilizing what they call "staggered development." This means that new content will be released quarterly despite each update's development cycle requiring a timeline longer than a quarter, which is possible by staggering each planned update.

By now, this delay is unsurprising, and rather much closer to the norm. A few additional months are unlikely to deter anyone still anticipating Squadron 42 and Star Citizen. As to whether or not this is the game's final release date, only time will tell.

Source: Eurogamer

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