After Raising Over $1 Billion From Players, Star Citizen Dev Chris Roberts Hopes Squadron 42's 2026 Launch Will Be 'Almost as Big an Event' as GTA 6

Chris Roberts, the main developer of Star Citizen, has made a bold assertion astir adjacent year’s single-player spinoff, Squadron 42, comparing it to the motorboat of behemoth Grand Theft Auto 6.

Cloud Imperium Games’ abstraction sim is considered 1 of the astir arguable projects successful each video games. Over the adjacent 13 years since its crowdfunding thrust began, Star Citizen has been called galore things including a scam by those who wonderment whether it volition ever decently launch. Its virtual abstraction ships, immoderate of which outgo hundreds of dollars, are often the absorption of criticism.

Indeed, Star Citizen has present raised an eye-watering $859 million, according to figures from CIG. The developer makes gross publically disposable connected its website. CIG calls this wealth “funds raised.”

In March past year, CIG began talking astir Star Citizen’s 1.0 motorboat being wrong sight, though there’s inactive nary merchandise model for it. 1.0, Roberts has said, “is what we see the features and contented acceptable to correspond ‘commercial’ release.”

Squadron 42, meanwhile, launches astatine immoderate constituent successful 2026. If it makes that merchandise window, it’ll travel retired an unthinkable 14 years aft CIG archetypal launched Star Citizen's crowdfunding drive.

Roberts, known for creating the Wing Commander series, has said Squadron 42 volition connection 30-40 hours of gameplay. A demo shown disconnected successful 2024 was dense connected flashy cutscenes, with CGI representations of Hollywood stars specified arsenic Gillian Anderson, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, and Mark Strong mixed with on-rails turret enactment successful a immense abstraction battle. The demo ended with a first-person shooter conception arsenic the alien force boarded the player’s ship.

Now, successful a caller French connection study by La Presse (thanks, PC Gamer) focusing connected Cloud Imperium Games Montreal, the caller sanction for subsidiary Turbulent, Roberts compared the merchandise of Squadron 42 to the merchandise of GTA 6.

Squadron 42 volition motorboat astatine a constituent successful 2026 wherever it won't beryllium overshadowed by GTA 6, the study claims, earlier handing implicit to Roberts: "We're hoping it'll beryllium astir arsenic large an event. Other than GTA 6, it's astir apt the biggest-budget AAA game.”

In the aforesaid report, Roberts was said to person confirmed he's raised conscionable implicit $1 cardinal for Star Citizen from players.

It’s worthy noting that Squadron 42 is so-far confirmed lone for PC, a level GTA 6 is acceptable to skip erstwhile it launches connected PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S connected May 26, 2026. But Roberts’ outlandish assertion is already being torn isolated by the internet, which has issued a corporate ‘no chance’ response. Analysts foretell GTA 6 volition beryllium the biggest amusement motorboat of each time, making much wealth successful its archetypal 24 hours than immoderate video crippled oregon movie earlier it.

La Presse did highlight, however, that Star Citizen has implicit 1 cardinal returning players each month, and astatine slightest 25 cardinal radical playing astatine slightest once. So that should springiness Squadron 42 a decent assemblage to motorboat into.

As for Star Citizen itself, the study reveals it’s present acceptable for a afloat merchandise sometime successful 2027 oregon 2028, oregon arsenic Roberts enactment it, 1 oregon 2 years aft the merchandise of Squadron 42.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].