Cloud Imperium Games has opened Steam wishlisting for Squadron 42 ahead of its planned Q2 2027 release. The new The Oath trailer adds the full announced cast to the game's latest update.
Cloud Imperium Games announced the Steam listing on 10 October 2026.
Squadron 42 is planned for release in Q2 2027, but the storefront page gives no exact day. It also provides no price or pre-order option. For PC players, the listing offers a release window rather than a launch commitment.
Steam Marks the Next Stage
The Manchester-based studio has opened wishlisting for its single-player adventure set in the Star Citizen universe. Squadron 42 is designed as a standalone narrative experience, not an online expansion to the existing space simulation. Players take the role of a rookie in the United Empire of Earth Navy during a crisis that threatens to pull the wider empire into war.
Q2 2027 means April through June. The announcement does not include a price, edition breakdown or system requirements. It also leaves pre-orders unconfirmed, and the Steam page still shows no specific release day.
That gap matters. A wishlist page can establish a broad window without proving that development has reached its final stage. The listing identifies Squadron 42 as a PC release, includes Japanese interface support and Japanese subtitles, and requires a separate Roberts Space Industries account.
The Q2 2027 target follows an August 2026 delay from the previously stated 2026 window. Chris Roberts said the change was intended to avoid a late-2026 launch, when he expected audience attention to be focused on Grand Theft Auto 6. His explanation accounts for the timing decision, not the permanence of the new quarter.
A Solo War Inside Star Citizen
The campaign takes place aboard a large capital ship. Players will work alongside a changing crew, form relationships and make decisions that influence their route from recruit toward a place in the galactic conflict. Cloud Imperium Games describes a structure that moves between shipboard routines and high-pressure operations instead of treating every sequence as a space battle.
Missions are expected to include dogfights and ground operations. Other sections cover stealth and exploration. Interactive cinematic moments are also part of the announced design, with the player moving between the cockpit and combat zones.
Personal choices and relationships are presented as part of the campaign. They are not described as background decoration.
The story is set in the year 2945, when the United Empire of Earth faces outlaws and hostile alien forces. The setting connects Squadron 42 to Star Citizen's wider fiction, while the player follows one defined character through a focused single-player story instead of entering the persistent multiplayer universe.
Cloud Imperium Games has previously said that the solo campaign can be played from beginning to end and may run for more than 40 hours. That describes the intended scope of the project. It does not independently confirm that the game is complete or ready to ship.
Performance Capture Takes the Lead
Cloud Imperium Games is putting substantial weight behind the cast. Mark Hamill and Gary Oldman are among the performers named in the announcement.
Gillian Anderson and Ben Mendelsohn are also attached to the project. Henry Cavill and Andy Serkis appear in the announced lineup.
John Rhys-Davies and Jonathan Bailey are part of the cast. Mark Strong and Alix Wilton Reagan are also named.
Damson Idris and Liam Cunningham appear alongside Jane Perry. CIG presents these performers as the full announced ensemble for Squadron 42.
The studio says full performance capture will bring the crew and allies to life. Antagonists are included in the same presentation. CIG frames the work as part of interactive sequences rather than material confined to conventional cutscenes.
That is a meaningful design promise, but the available announcement does not show how often player input changes those scenes or how extensively the narrative branches.
The visual technology is built around StarEngine, Cloud Imperium Games' proprietary technology. The studio links it to detailed environments and large-scale spaces. It also points to realistic characters and transitions between cinematic presentation and gameplay.
No independent performance testing, PC specification or console version is identified in the supplied material. Claims about final image quality remain unverified. The same applies to frame rate and hardware demands.
A Long Road to the Release Window
Squadron 42 was first presented in 2012 and has remained in development for more than a decade. Reporting describes the project as having taken roughly 12 years to reach its current stage.
That history helps explain why the Steam wishlist opening is being treated as a visibility milestone rather than a conventional launch announcement.
The project's finances sit within the wider Star Citizen development effort. Combined funding for Star Citizen and the related Squadron 42 project surpassed $1 billion in May 2026. IGN reported that approximately another $50 million was raised afterward.
Those figures show the scale of the production's funding history. They do not establish a release date or confirm the final quality of the campaign.
What Players Still Need to Know
The announcement confirms Steam availability and a planned Q2 2027 release for a solo science-fiction adventure. It does not confirm a launch price or multiplayer support. Offline requirements, save systems and accessibility options remain undisclosed.
Review access has not been confirmed. Neither has the final technical profile. The latest trailer may illustrate the project's intended tone and scope, but promotional footage alone cannot establish retail performance or prove that every shown sequence will represent uninterrupted play.
The measurable information is limited but clear. Wishlisting opened on 10 October 2026. The planned release window is Q2 2027, and the setting is the year 2945.
The announced ensemble includes more than a dozen named performers. The Steam listing identifies Japanese interface support and Japanese subtitles. It also requires a separate Roberts Space Industries account.
Steam wishlisting is a tracking function rather than a purchase commitment. It can notify users about later store updates and release information, but it does not reveal whether a game will meet a particular frame-rate target. It also cannot show whether the listed date is immovable.
The official Steam listing provides the clearest current record of the platform, broad release window, language support and account requirement. Cloud Imperium Games' statements provide the campaign and production context. IGN's reporting supplies the later funding figure, but none of these sources turns the announced quarter into a fixed launch commitment.
