Insider-Gaming’s Tom Henderson recently shared a lengthy report of the current situation at Cloud Imperium Games and the company’s progression towards launching Squadron 42 and Star Citizen, along with an unannounced third project.
According to the report, CIG has started working on a medieval fantasy game along with its other projects, as the studio wants “to release more than just one style of game.”
Tom Henderson didn’t confirm this project as he mentions it as what “sources say”. However, it sounds like a big claim, and if it turns out to be true, it is unlikely that CIG will reveal anything about it anytime soon. With both Star Citizen and Squadron 42 still under development for years, news of a third project could bring more criticism than appreciation.
Unfortunately, not much was shared about this claimed project as Henderson says the details about this third game are “slim”. Even though Henderson is a credible source, this report should be taken with a grain of salt for now. At least until more corroborations come in.
In another part of the report, Tom Henderson claims Squadron 42 has just recently become “Feature-Complete”, unlike what CIG claimed last year during the CitizenCon. The insider believes that CIG will showcase a demo of the first chapter in Squadron 42 during CitizenCon 2024. This could be the Redacted panel mentioned in the event’s schedule.
Moreover, the report reveals that Squadron 42 will likely feature around 20 chapters and CIG intends to release it in multiple episodes. According to the report, the game was presented to Microsoft earlier this year.
Tom Henderson claims that he has reached out to some current and former developers of CIG to collect more information about the years-long development of Star Citizen and Squadron 42. According to the report, the developer may be in trouble financially as the spending is outpacing CIG’s income in recent years.
Henderson claims that CIG has been spending over $100 million per year and it could cause them a problem, but another graph in the same report reveals that the company experienced an income of over $100 in 2021 and over $130 in 2022. So, it doesn’t really seem CIG is emptying its budget with how the income is going up year over year.
Last but not least, the report also reveals some information about the working culture at CIG and Chris Roberts being too picky about the tiniest things, which shouldn’t be surprising to the Star Citizen community.
Chris Roberts is well-known by Star Citizen fans, and the fact that he is a perfectionist doesn’t seem to be in contrast with what the community wants to get from him and his studio. However, it does make working with Roberts more difficult than other studio heads.
As mentioned earlier, despite Henderson’s almost perfect track record of trustworthy leaks, the report must be taken with a grain of salt for now until more proof comes in from other sources, or a comment from CIG itself.
