Squadron 42
PC
Where to buy
Squadron 42 is a single-player, story-driven space game for Windows PCs from Cloud Imperium Games, set in the same universe as Star Citizen. It has been in development since the 2012 crowdfunding campaign that launched Star Citizen, and its developers have called it a “spiritual successor to Wing Commander.” The game is not released: Cloud Imperium opened a Steam page with wishlisting and a new trailer on October 10, 2026, and lists a Q2 2027 release window without an exact date. You play a custom-built rookie in the United Empire of Earth Navy in the year 2945, with a cast that includes Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, and Henry Cavill. Chris Roberts has said the campaign runs for more than 40 hours.
Squadron 42 and Star Citizen are separate games. Neither requires the other, and Squadron 42 is a finished-story campaign, not the open-ended online universe. If you are searching for “Squadron 42” and see Star Citizen results, that is the same company and fiction, not the same product.
Technical Specifications
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Developer | Cloud Imperium Games (originally Foundry 42, under Erin Roberts) |
| Publisher | Roberts Space Industries (per the Star Citizen wiki; not stated in news coverage) |
| Creator | Chris Roberts (creator of Star Citizen and Squadron 42) |
| Engine | StarEngine (a modified Amazon Lumberyard, which replaced CryEngine 3 in December 2016) |
| Platform | PC (Windows) |
| Release | Not released · Q2 2027 window (announced August 2026, previously targeted for 2026) |
| Store | Steam page open for wishlists since October 10, 2026 |
| Install Size | 150 GB (listed on Steam, per PC Gamer) |
| Setting | The year 2945, United Empire of Earth Navy |
| Cast | Gary Oldman · Mark Hamill · Gillian Anderson · Henry Cavill · Ben Mendelsohn · Mark Strong · Liam Cunningham · John Rhys-Davies · Andy Serkis |
| Campaign Length | 40+ hours (Chris Roberts, December 2025) |
| Genre | Single-player space combat, first-person shooter, narrative adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, playable offline |
The Story: A Rookie Pilot in the UEE Navy
The campaign takes place in 2945, when the United Empire of Earth faces outlaws and alien forces and is nearing collapse. You enlist as a rookie, join the 42nd Squadron, and rise through the ranks aboard a capital ship, with a crew whose relationships change with your choices. According to the Star Citizen wiki, the story begins with the events of Vega II, later places you aboard the UEES Stanton in the 5th Fleet in the Odin system, and follows a pirate threat and a conflict between dangerous factions. The story has branching paths but a defined beginning and end.
Cast and Performance Capture
The cast was recorded with full performance capture, and Cloud Imperium says the performances are integrated into gameplay and not limited to cutscenes. Named roles include Gary Oldman as Admiral Ernst Bishop, Mark Hamill as Steve “Old Man” Colton, Gillian Anderson as Rachel MacLaren, and Henry Cavill as Ryan Enright, with Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham, John Rhys-Davies, and Andy Serkis among the other names reported.
How It Plays: Cockpit and On Foot
PC Gamer describes missions split roughly evenly between ship cockpits and on-foot sections. The ship half is dogfighting; the on-foot half combines first-person shooting with puzzle-solving, including gravity-gun-like mechanics shown in a 26-minute gameplay overview. Between missions you talk to crew, visit the hangar to upgrade your ship, and make choices that affect the campaign, and a reputation system changes how some characters treat you. Trailer footage also shows platforming, a hacking mini-game, and off-duty activities. Co-op was dropped from the launch plans long ago.
How Long Is Squadron 42?
In a “Letter From the Chairman” published on December 24, 2025, Chris Roberts said all chapters of Squadron 42 are playable and that the game runs more than 40 hours. Earlier estimates were far smaller: a 2015 figure of about 20 hours, and a 2016 figure of 28 chapters with more than 60 missions. Wikipedia still describes the first episode as about 20 hours and 70 missions, so treat older numbers as outdated. The same letter said the team was still working on polish, optimization, and bug fixing and had not given a date for a Beta.
Release Window and Delays
Squadron 42 was promised in the 2012 crowdfunding campaign for a 2014 release, then slipped to 2016, and after further misses the studio stopped giving specific dates. A 2017 vertical slice demo was released, and in December 2020 Roberts said he had decided not to show gameplay publicly. The game was declared feature complete in October 2023, a 2026 target was announced at CitizenCon 2024, and in August 2026 Cloud Imperium moved the release to a Q2 2027 window; according to 1vx.gg, Roberts said a late-2026 launch would be overshadowed by coverage of Grand Theft Auto VI. Q2 means April to June 2027, and no exact date has been announced.
Episodes and Star Citizen
Wikipedia describes the campaign as planned in episodes, with Episode One as the first release. The Star Citizen wiki says a second episode, Behind Enemy Lines, was once planned as a free mission disk, that the developers are still considering it, and that they plan to focus on Star Citizen 1.0 after Squadron 42 launches. Player choices were once said to carry over to the persistent universe, but it is not clear whether that still applies. The engine was also the subject of a lawsuit: Crytek sued Cloud Imperium in December 2017 over its use of CryEngine, and the dispute was settled in 2020.
Price and Where to Play
The game can be wishlisted on Steam. We could not find a price or edition list for the Steam release, and the Steam page could not be read for this card, so check the store page for the price and the full system requirements. The page lists a 150 GB install size, according to PC Gamer. GamingOnLinux lists the game as running under Proton or Wine on Linux and says official Linux support is not confirmed. Fans of the genre’s roots can start with Wing Commander.
