Star Citizen fans sigh deeply, rub their foreheads as developer casts doubt on Squadron 42's 2026 release: 'I don't know if we're going to make it'

Star Citizen may not be the most famously overdue videogame of all time, but it has to be a top-five contender, especially given that it is now just shy of $865 million (and no, there's not an errant zero in there, that's eight-hundred and sixty-five million smackeroos) raised in crowdfunding. Developer Cloud Imperium Games recently reaffirmed a 2026 launch for Squadron 42, Star Citizen's singleplayer campaign—the one with Gary Oldman, Gillian Anderson, and Mark Hamill—but a more recent developer's comment has sparked doubt among some fans.

The grim tidings were delivered by content director Jared Huckaby during a recent Star Citizen Live showcase (via MassivelyOP), in which he said "there will be no Squadron 42 presence at CitizenCon Direct," the two-hour online showcase taking place on October 11.

"The team is heads down," Huckaby said. "We drew a line in the sand when we said 2026. I don't know if we're going to make it, I just know that we're going to do every single thing possible to make it. And part of that is not taking time for the distraction of CitizenCon."

Huckaby said developers are "on track" and that "there's no mystery [or] anything we're hiding," but you can probably guess where the attention was immediately focused. And fair enough: "I don't know if we're going to make it" is generally not the sort of thing you say when you're confident you're going to make it. In fact, I can't speak for anyone else but for me it is exactly the sort of thing I say when I'm pretty damn sure I'm not going to make it and I want everyone in earshot to know that I tried real hard and I made no promises.

"If they were really planning to release it in 2026 we would now start to see marketing ramp up," one redditor wrote. "Not even talking about it at CitzenCon is the complete opposite."

"S42 will be delayed to 2027. I am almost certain of it now," another added.

"My son is 5 months old, and I expect to see him walking and talking before I play this game," a third chipped in. "I will probably be able to teach him basic M&K controls before this game comes out. I'm not happy that's the case, but that's realistic."

(Image credit: Reddit)

Huckaby himself quickly jumped into the thread to clarify that he was not hinting at another Squadron 42 delay.

"I said that *I* personally cannot tell you what the future holds, because quite honestly, that's the responsible answer for me to give with the way that videogames are made. Not our videogames, ALL videogames," he wrote. "So no, *I* don't KNOW the future, and I said as much is all.

"And please don't mistake my pragmatism for any commentary on the status of the game. I just try very, very hard to speak as deliberately and plainly as I can without embellishment or hyperbole. I meant what I said in the most literal manner possible: that I can't sit here and tell you what the future holds, because in the entire history of video game development, who's ever been able to? That's all. If I didn't believe in this team and the people within, I wouldn't still be here."

Well, that's fair enough. Nobody really knows, after all, do they? I would say that Huckaby probably should've been a little more cautious with his wording if he didn't want to get people riled up—but I will also point out that Squadron 42 was supposed to be out in 2014, we got a close-up look at a massive, near-finished level in 2015, beta testing was scheduled to start in 2020, it was "feature complete" in 2023, and they can't keep getting away with this in 2025, and yet here we are, faced with a near-certainty that overall Star Citizen crowdfunding will surpass $900 million before Squadron 42 sees the light of day, whether it makes a 2026 release or not.

And if it doesn't? I don't think it'll make a lick of difference: Those who believe will hold the line and the rest of us will continue to watch and marvel, and we'll all wait to see what 2027 brings.