The Squadron 42 release date finally has an official home: Cloud Imperium Games' single-player Star Citizen spin-off now has a Steam page listing a Q2 2027 launch window, alongside a new wishlist trailer called The Oath. It is the clearest sign yet that the game, first announced in 2012, is heading toward an actual release.

The listing also gives PC players the first concrete look at what they will need to run it, and the numbers are steep in some places and surprisingly modest in others.

Official Squadron 42 screenshot showing a UEE Navy scene
Squadron 42 is a single-player campaign set in the Star Citizen universe. Image: Cloud Imperium Games

Squadron 42 release date: what the Steam page confirms

The official Steam page for Squadron 42 went live on October 10 and lists the game as coming in Q2 2027, which means somewhere between April and June. There is no exact day yet, and no price or edition list either, so wishlisting is the only option for now.

Advertisement View official GAMIVO offer

The window matches what Chris Roberts said in August, when his Letter From The Chairman on the Roberts Space Industries site moved the game out of 2026. Roberts explained that he did not want to launch into the wave of attention around GTA 6 and preferred a quieter slot.

The store description pitches a story campaign where you enlist as a recruit in the UEE Navy, fly combat ships, fight on foot and move between capital ships, stations and frontier outposts during a galactic war. Your choices in combat are said to shape your rank and legacy in the crew.

Squadron 42 PC requirements and install size

Only minimum specs are listed so far. The recommended tier on Steam simply says the game requires a 64-bit processor and operating system, so expect a fuller breakdown closer to launch. Here is what the minimum tier asks for:

OS: Windows 11, 64-bit only. Windows 10 is not listed.

CPU: a quad-core Intel Core i7 from the Sandy Bridge generation or newer, or an AMD Bulldozer-era chip or newer.

Memory: 16GB of RAM.

Graphics: a DirectX 11.1-compatible card with 8GB of VRAM, with DirectX 12 also listed.

Storage: 150GB of free space, plus a broadband internet connection.

The CPU floor is old, but the 8GB VRAM line and the 150GB install will rule out a lot of older and budget machines. The listing does not mention ray tracing. If you are unsure whether your rig qualifies, our guide on how to know if your PC can run a game walks through reading a spec sheet step by step.

Official Squadron 42 screenshot of space combat
Steam lists Squadron 42 with 16GB of RAM, an 8GB graphics card and 150GB of storage as the minimum. Image: Cloud Imperium Games

An RSI account, English voice acting and a big-name cast

Two details on the page are worth knowing before you wishlist. First, Squadron 42 requires a third-party Roberts Space Industries account, which can be linked to Steam. Second, full audio is only listed in English, while interface and subtitles cover languages including Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese.

The new trailer leans on the cast that has been attached to the project for years. Mark Hamill, Gary Oldman, Gillian Anderson, Mark Strong, John Rhys-Davies and Liam Cunningham all appear, with Oldman playing Admiral Ernst Bishop. Most of the performance capture was recorded years ago.

The developer also flags strong language, intense violence, blood and gore, so it is clearly aimed at a mature audience.

Official Squadron 42 screenshot inside a capital ship
Players move between cockpits, capital ships and on-foot combat in the campaign. Image: Cloud Imperium Games

Why the Squadron 42 Steam page matters

Squadron 42 and Star Citizen have been funded through one of the largest crowdfunding campaigns in gaming, which has passed the billion-dollar mark, and both have slipped repeatedly. Star Citizen still has no final release date.

A public Steam listing changes the conversation. It puts the game in front of players who never backed it, it opens a wishlist count that tends to drive visibility at launch, and it commits the studio to a public window on the biggest PC storefront. It does not guarantee the date will hold, but it is a much firmer marker than a roadmap slide.

For players, the practical takeaway is simple: this is a single-player, PC-first space game. No console versions are listed on Steam, so anyone on PlayStation or Xbox should not expect it at launch.

Official Squadron 42 screenshot of a planetary outpost
The Steam page is the first official storefront listing for the long-running project. Image: Cloud Imperium Games

What comes next

The open questions are the exact release day, the price and whether Squadron 42 will be sold separately from Star Citizen packages on the RSI store. A final recommended spec list is also still missing.

With CitizenCon traditionally held in the autumn, more details could arrive soon. Until then, Q2 2027 is the official target, and the game joins a crowded calendar of big releases. For what else is on the way, see our list of the most anticipated games of late 2026.