Squadron 42 is Cloud Imperium Games’ single-player campaign set in the Star Citizen universe, first announced 14 years ago. The first player impressions are now coming out of CIG’s playtest at its Manchester studio, and one of the most detailed so far is cautiously positive. An attendee who posted on NeoGAF (the same write-up appeared on r/starcitizen under the name NackteElfe, where Wccftech picked it up) says they went in “fairly skeptical” and came away “much more positive,” after about five hours with the game.
The closed event runs October 9 to 11 for selected backers and content creators. According to the attendee, their group had around 65 people, each on their own PC, playing at their own pace for roughly five uninterrupted hours. Chris Roberts opened with a speech about recreating the Wing Commander experience, and Mark Hamill, who stars in the game, stopped by. Attendees signed an NDA that lets them describe their general experience but bans photos, video and audio, which is why there’s no footage yet.
The write-up praises the facial detail and character models, and describes ships full of crew “working, talking, and going about their business.” On-foot combat is called “massively improved,” with enemies reviving each other and trying to flank, and hits that visibly knock Vanduul around. Space combat uses CIG’s Maelstrom destruction tech, and the attendee found ships breaking apart “incredibly convincing.” Sound is described as “bombastic.”
The main caution is structure. The attendee calls it “very cinematic and occasionally somewhat on rails,” and expects some players to struggle with how little freedom it offers next to Star Citizen’s open universe. They saw bugs, but nothing that made them doubt the game is in its final polish. Five hours wasn’t enough to judge the story: new mechanics were still being introduced when their session ended. Their verdict was that they weren’t “completely blown away,” but would “already be quite satisfied” if Squadron 42 shipped in its current state.
Squadron 42’s Steam page, which went live this week, lists a Q2 2027 release window on PC. The minimum requirements include 16GB of RAM, an 8GB graphics card, 150GB of storage and Windows 11. The listing also asks for a broadband internet connection, which CIG hasn’t explained for a single-player game.
Our read: One attendee isn’t a review, and backers invited to a studio event aren’t a neutral crowd. But the specifics line up with what CIG has been promising: a linear, Wing Commander-style campaign rather than a single-player Star Citizen. That’s the expectation to set now. If the five hours are representative, the risk for Squadron 42 isn’t whether it works, it’s whether players who’ve spent a decade imagining an open galaxy will accept a directed one. Expect more impressions once the event wraps on Sunday, and keep an eye on our release calendar for a firm date.
Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report
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