The Blood of Dawnwalker

You’re not the only one pointing at the screen, DiCaprio-style, thinking, “That’s very Witcher-esque” (and for good reason, given Rebel Wolves’ experience on The Witcher 3). Nevertheless, the dark medieval tidings of Vale Sangora provide a starker contrast in terms of day and night, as Coen walks between the two to save his family. So while the lighting and shadows look technically robust, the contrast and how it weaves into your playstyle and decisions further sweetens the deal.

Control Resonant

You would think Remedy has nothing to prove with its visual work, and yet, here’s the development team taking its brutalist architecture, surreal, spooky lighting and stellar art direction into the wider world. Beyond looking like a sleek hack-and-slash title with even more mind-boggling enemy designs, Control Resonant feels leagues trippier than the original, and we can’t wait to see more.

Resident Evil Requiem

Everything showcased thus far has led to this moment. The sheer attention to detail, from the hair physics and skin textures to realistic sweat – not to mention the dynamic lighting and shadows – make for one heck of a survival horror showcase. And yet, there’s still so much more to see, including Leon’s sections, which have been rumored to offer larger environments compared to Grace’s more confined, claustrophobic, and harrowing sections. Thankfully, with less than two months before release and a showcase coming up, it’s only a matter of time.

Marvel’s Wolverine

As with Ratchet and Clank and Marvel’s Spider-Man, it isn’t about Insomniac’s tech so much as how it’s used. Thus, we get hyper-detailed arm hair (a vital component of Logan’s character, as any fan will tell you), immaculate reflections off those adamantium claws, and only the finest blood spatters in Marvel’s Wolverine. That’s not even mentioning the environmental destruction and interactivity, whether it’s breaking through market stalls or launching enemies into lava.

Beast of Reincarnation

Seeing this after experiencing nothing but Pokémon from Game Freak may be somewhat of an eye-opener for fans, even more so because it looks incredibly sleek. Weathered rusting textures on robots, stylish executions, a relatively calm yet foreboding post-apocalyptic setting with impressive shrubbery – it’s almost surreal, especially with how rapidly environments can change. Suffice it to say, this is probably the studio’s best-looking effort to date, and we’re intrigued to see more.

Ontos

What would a Frictional Games title be without masterful usage of lighting and shadows? Look no further than Stellan Skarsgård’s character illuminated against a chandelier, the warm ambience prevalent throughout the reception area. Of course, being a spiritual successor to Soma also means plenty of not-so-warm and fuzzy sights. Realistic skin tearing. Reality fractures. You get the drill. It all works in unison to deliver a terrifyingly surreal experience.

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis

You wouldn’t ordinarily geek out over an Unreal Engine 5 remake, but Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog have pulled off something incredible with Legacy of Atlantis (that too based solely on pre-alpha footage). Returning to where it all began for gaming’s most illustrious heroine, the remake offers gorgeously detailed shrubbery and architecture along with an incredible sense of scale. Plus, there are all the little details, from realistic dirt markings to Lara’s signature animations, which look better than ever.

Saros

“Spiritual successor to Returnal” may as well sound more like “the same bullet hell action you loved before, but with more fleshed out rogue-lite mechanics.” And honestly, I’m fine with that, given the original’s addictiveness. In the graphics department, however, Saros is going beyond the usual “tentacle technology” and offering rigid-body simulation for its many, many bullets alongside reactive lighting and layered dynamic particles. Even the narrative side benefits from improved cinematography, more cutscenes with additional motion capture, and better facial animations.

Gears of War: E-Day

The Coalition has yet to share any more footage beyond that trailer in 2024, but it’s certainly hyping up the prequel to a ridiculous degree. Remember Gears 5, considered one of the best-looking games of the last generation? E-Day will feature “over 100 times more environmental and character details” by comparison, and, oh, ray-traced lighting, shadows and reflections as well. That’s not even including the revamped destruction or new animation tech, with everything “completely rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5.” Say what you will about how other studios have handled the engine, but with The Coalition in charge, this could very well be an “unrivalled visual experience.”

Grand Theft Auto 6

The sheer number of NPCs in some shots, each with their own detailed animations and skin textures; the rendering distance, especially on those stunning aerial shots; the facial animations, which deliver as much on the subtlety – I could go on and on about Grand Theft Auto 6’s visual brilliance. And that’s based on just two trailers. Even if we get a more detailed gameplay walkthrough in the months ahead, it will only scratch the surface of what could be one of the best-looking games of all time.

007 First Light

Ignore the copious amounts of motion blur during its PS5 gameplay – IO Interactive’s next is a stunner, and that’s saying something given its experience with the Hitman franchise. The young pre-007 Bond’s global traipse isn’t just about gorgeous, guest-packed locales or high-speed chases across scenic landscapes. It’s about sneaking past guards, leveraging the environment to your advantage (thus highlighting the impressive particles and alpha effects). It’s also very much about those explosive set pieces, where intuition pays off as much as aggression. Whether you’re in it for the sights or action, 007 First Light certainly doesn’t disappoint.

Phantom Blade Zero

There’s something about the atmosphere that feels distinctly Souls-like. Perhaps it’s the desolate buildings of Pang Town, the desaturated colors in certain places or the fantastical yet realistically rendered enemies. Regardless, Phantom Blade Zero’s sleek animations and lightning-fast combat quickly showcase its action RPG chops, and it’s certainly shaping up to be a peak “kung fu-punk” experience.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties

You have to hand it to RGG Studio – beyond simply remaking a classic Yakuza, it’s also delivering a brand new experience focused on one of the more popular villains in the series. And as usual, it’s not skimping in the visual department, revamping the character models and environments in the Dragon Engine, which still holds up to this day. Perfect for losing a tidy hundred hours or so while admiring the sights.

Crimson Desert

Speaking of getting lost in a world for a hundred hours, perhaps even more, this long-awaited open-world fantasy action RPG. Pywel has drawn us in so deeply, brimming as it is with expansive mountain ranges, dense forests with extensive foliage and seemingly endless plains (not to mention the mysterious floating islands). And if that’s not enough, maybe that giant mecha dragon fight will win you over.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword

An Onimusha revival has been way overdue, and thankfully, Way of the Sword isn’t just coasting on its looks. Which is a way of saying that it looks fantastic, capturing the dark fantasy atmosphere of previous titles while reinventing just how disturbingly detailed the Genma can be. Otherwise, everything you could want from an Onimusha title – from a charismatic protagonist to sleek-looking sword combat – is here, and backed by phenomenal-looking effects and animations.

Replaced

I could regale you with Sad Cat Studios’ long journey and developmental challenges, especially being based in Ukraine. Or even how Replaced is operating on a completely different level when it comes to pushing the boundaries of 2.5D pixel art, but a single comment on its release date trailer says it best: “Every scene is wallpaper worthy.” With how long it’s been in development, we’re keen to admire every hand-crafted animation, every harrowing chase sequence, and every single downer aspect of this alternate history USA.

Fable

As much renown as Playground Games has received for Forza Horizon, there’s been a healthy amount of skepticism for Fable, due to the long development cycle and delays. On the bright side, the graphics, as showcased last year in new pre-alpha footage, are shaping up well enough, capturing that fairytale aesthetic while looking technically sound. 2026 could finally be its year – all we need now is solid confirmation (and some more gameplay as a treat).

Fatekeeper

Paraglacial’s debut first-person action RPG skipped straight from having our interest to commanding our attention after its initial trailer. This level of environmental fidelity from a team of 12, with outdoors that shine with realistic foliage and indoors brimming with mood lighting and crazily detailed beasts, is something to behold.

Valor Mortis

In the same vein is One More Level’s next first-person title, which is a Souls-like and can hurt you. Instead of the cyberpunk tidings of Ghostrunner, Valor Mortis opts for an alternative 19th-century Europe where the plague runs rampant. However, there is a distinct beauty on display, almost like the alpha effects, environmental textures and desiccated trees combine into a painterly aesthetic. Don’t even get us started on the bosses and enemies, which can vary from sleek to downright disturbing in their makeup.

Pragmata

With how long it took to nail the unorthodox gameplay loop, which boils down to “hack-and-shoot”, hilariously enough, Pragmata didn’t have to look this good. Yet, here we are, with Diana’s hair animating so realistically that the tech made it into Requiem. Of course, there’s plenty else to love in terms of the sci-fi leanings of this hostile lunar base and the sheer detail of enemies, right down to their exposed machinery with each successful hack. If Onimusha showcases the past and Requiem the present, then Pragmata is an incredible showcase for the future.

Directive 8020

While it isn’t the developer’s first foray with Unreal Engine 5, Directive 8020 feels like Supermassive has become more comfortable with the engine. Consolidating the tense journey of survival on the Cassiopeia with the studio’s signature narrative approach, it showcased some stunning alien flora, meticulously detailed body horror, and, of course, incredible use of lighting and shadows. That’s alongside the fantastic facial animations.

Nioh 3

With everything that Team Ninja has done in the past several years – the larger environments of Wo Long, the open world of Rise of the Ronin, the dark fantasy feudal setting of Nioh – it was only a matter of time before it combined them. Thus, we have Nioh 3, with its open field (not open world) levels that impress as much with their draw distance and foliage as they do with the Yokai roaming about. Maybe you won’t notice all this much in the heat of combat, but they’re stunning all the same.

Ride 6

Despite lacking the budget of a Polyphony Digital or Playground Games, Milestone’s Ride series has quietly carved its own niche in terms of realistic racing visuals. Launching this February, Ride 6 ups the ante even further with Unreal Engine 5, delivering more true-to-life tracks and motorbikes (even if the character models could use some more life).

The Duskbloods

I’m not sure if it’s FromSoftware’s art direction doing the heavy lifting, but The Duskbloods is sporting some impressive details. Between the monstrous bosses and dilapidated environments is some truly impressive architecture, even more so on the Nintendo Switch 2. It may not boast an Elden Ring-style scale, but for its PvEvP needs, this is shaping up into another visual masterpiece for the studio.

Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra

Despite a delay past early 2026, Skydance New Media’s debut title hasn’t been ruled out for this year, which is good news. We’ve yet to see much beyond the gorgeous cinematics, which set the stage for Captain America and Black Panther to team up in WW2 Occupied Paris. However, if anyone can deliver a blockbuster action-adventure experience, it’s Amy Hennig and her crew.

Squadron 42

Give it up for over $1 billion in funding for Star Citizen, with a full release still years away. But Squadron 42, the single-player-focused title, is seemingly out this year (multiple delays notwithstanding). For all the controversy, it still looks good, and the thought of an epic space opera with over 70 missions and an all-star cast is too good to pass up. Now let’s see if it actually sticks to its deadline this time.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve

Credit where it’s due for Unreal Engine 5 – the planes in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve have truly never looked better. Then you have the prospect of multi-layered cloudscapes for some of the most dynamic sky battles yet. Even the character models and cutscenes are a massive step up, adding so much more to the realism – a far cry from the days of JPEG dog.

Halo: Campaign Evolved

Beyond the micro-stutters in its first gameplay, Halo Studios’ second remake of the FPS classic isn’t looking too shabby. The revamped cinematics look stunning; the Covenant animate so well while staying true to the original; the texture work is sleek; and the weapon models look great. There are still plenty of doubts to be had, but at least on a visual level, Halo: Campaign Evolved is looking the part.

Arknights: Endfield

Gorgeous games aren’t exactly uncommon in this day and age, especially with stand-out efforts like Where Winds Meet and Wuthering Waves. Arknights: Endfield joins those ranks, and despite offering multiple zones instead of a true open world, the clean sci-fi aesthetic meshes so well with the extensive greenery on Talos 2. And as much praise as the character designs have received, the otherworldly Aggeloi aren’t far behind.

Forza Horizon 6

Like Gears of War: E-Day, once again, is there really any doubt that this will be a visual experience unlike any other? It’s not just because of Playground Games’ fantastic run of quality with the series, but also how it’s approaching the depiction of Japan. Tokyo City will, naturally, be one of the studio’s “most detailed and layered environments to date,” but it’s the subtleties, be it the wind bells signaling the arrival of Summer, or the calm energy permeating the atmosphere, that really have us excited. Couple that with this being the studio’s “biggest” and “most full” map yet, and Forza Horizon 6 could very well set a new benchmark for the genre.

Roberts also noted that Squadron 42 measures in at over 40 hours in length, and that the developers are now working on “remaining polish, optimization, and bug fixing.” He also wrote about how Cloud Imperium Games had worked throughout 2025 to build on the development progress it had made on Squadron 42 back in 2024, with a focus on “bringing the game to content complete and closing out remaining core tasks in preparation for Beta.”

“A big part of what makes this possible is the technology we’ve built at CIG over many years,” wrote Roberts. “The ability to move seamlessly from on foot, into a vehicle you can fly and move around inside, down to a planet or across star systems, all without loading screens, creates a level of immersion that’s very difficult to replicate. That combination of close-up interaction and galactic scale is at the core of what will make Squadron 42 so unique.”

“Equally important is the quality of the content itself. From writing and performance capture to characters, environments, ships, lighting, sound, cinematics, and design, the level of care across the entire game is something I’m incredibly proud of. Combined with deeply interactive systems, it creates an experience that pulls you into the world and keeps you there.”

As for Star Citizen, Roberts also wrote about a recently-released experimental update released for the game’s Alpha 4.5 build which brings in support for VR headsets. He noted that this “Christmas Surprise” originally started as a passion project and started getting the attention of developers as well as fans of Star Citizen.

As part of this VR mode, “almost everything” has been physicalized, which means that it can be interacted with by players with their own hands regardless of whether they are playing in first or third-person views. The VR mode, he noted, also helps further justify the work that Cloud Imperium Games has put into detailing its various environments, props, ships and gear, since players can now experience these things at true scale. The VR mode is still considered “an early and experimental step,” however, and the developers are still working on more ways to improve it.

Looking to the future, the studio plans on bringing in a number of improvements to the technology it has already introduced to Star Citizen and Squadron 42. Among these making Server Meshing—first introduced to Star Citizen through an update earlier this year, allowing the server meshes to automatically reconfigure themselves in real-time based on player activity and server load. There will also be more in-game content introduced over the next year to Star Citizen’s alpha. Squadron 42, on the other hand, is currently moving towards its Beta release. However, Cloud Imperium Games hasn’t confirmed when this Beta release is slated to happen.

Star Citizen was originally announced all the way back in 2012. Since then, developer Cloud Imperium Games has largely relied on crowdsourcing to fund the ambitious title. While it has been in development for over a decade, 2016 also saw the release of the first playable version. Since then, the space-based title has been getting regular updates, including a major one at the start of this year, which brought it up to Alpha 4.0.

The update brought with it a major new feature that allows the studio to run different parts of the games across different servers while still keeping these “server boundaries” essentially invisible to players. Through this update, issues that would affect the stability of any server would be localised only to that server, with the rest of the game being unaffected.

“Each planet, landing zone, or major station is now covered by different game servers,” wrote Cloud Imperium Games boss Chris Roberts when announcing the feature. “Thanks to this technology, server boundaries are effectively invisible, even at our high levels of fidelity, ensuring smooth, uninterrupted gameplay. This means that server performance, playability, and overall health are now local to each of the nodes in the server mesh.”

In the meantime, the studio has also noted that its primary focus of development for Star Citizen in 2025 has been “improving playability” while improving performance and stability. Of course, it’s also keen on content.

“As we jump into the new year, our primary focus across our Star Citizen teams is clear: improving playability,” wrote Roberts earlier this year. “Our drive for playability surrounds three critical areas – performance, stability, and content. We understand that the Live environment must be far more reliable and consistent, and we are determined to deliver on this.”

When it comes to funding, Star Citizen had crossed the $750 million mark back in December 2024. It is also worth noting that just about every stretch goal that the company had announced since the title was first announced has been reached, with the highest one coming in at $65 million, which would offer the studio the funds it needs to work on “enhanced ship modularity”.

Back in August, Roberts had also spoken about the potential release windows for Star Citizen, as well as its spin-off Squadron 42, with the latter aiming for a 2026 release. Star Citizen, however, would need even more time in development, with Cloud Imperium Games aiming to launch it in either 2027 or 2028.

For the sake of context, development on Star Citizen had begun over a decade ago, with the game having gone through several rounds of crowd funding to further help its development. Since development started, the studio has continued to release early builds of the title for some time, with 2017 marking the release of the game’s persistent universe module.

Roberts had spoken earlier this year about plans for Star Citizen in a Letters From the Chairman from back in January. In the letter, Roberts wrote about wanting to focus on getting Star Citizen to a state that can be referred to as playable. As part of the this, the studio has decided to run two versions of the games in parallel, each one having its own progression.

A big release for Star Citizen this year was Alpha 4.0. At the time, Roberts had noted that it wasn’t a hundred percent complete, and that the studio was also focusing on bringing in some of the mission types that were missing. For context, the title is currently in Alpha 4.3.0. Players that would prefer to access the missing missions and other content can switch to an older Alpha branch of the title.

One of the key features of Alpha 4.0 for Star Citizen is the ability for players to travel back and forth between the Stanton System and the Pyro System through a Jump Point. To make this journey possible, players will end up jumping through the various server layers that power the entirety of the game.

“Each planet, landing zone, or major station is now covered by different game servers,” wrote Roberts. “Thanks to this technology, server boundaries are effectively invisible, even at our high levels of fidelity, ensuring smooth, uninterrupted gameplay. This means that server performance, playability, and overall health are now local to each of the nodes in the server mesh.”

As for single-player title Squadron 42, the game was described by Cloud Imperium Games as being feature complete all the way back in 2023. Since then, however, the studio has continued to work on the game without revealing more details. At the time, senior game director Richard Tyrer said that Squadron 42 had entered into the final stage of game development, revolving around stability improvements and optimisations to ensure that the game runs well.

October 2024 also saw a major trailer released for Squadron 42, giving us a look at more than an hour of gameplay from the upcoming shooter. The game will feature quite a star-studded cast, including Mark Hamill, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, Andy Serkis, and Gillion Anderson among others.

For more details about Squadron 42, here are 15 things you should know about it.

As part of this, executives who weren’t laid off have instead been assigned to different roles in the studio. The studio has also laid off employees from other departments, including QA. The new direction for the company was reportedly announced internally by studio boss Chris Roberts through an internal memo.

Roberts reportedly stated the desire to meet the release schedules for both games under development as a reason for the management changes.

“To achieve this laser focus [of meeting the release of SQ42 and Star Citizen 1.0], it is more important than ever to ensure we have high-performing and efficient teams working throughout the company,” said Roberts. “In order to achieve this, I have had to make changes to the structure of our teams from the very top of the company and downwards to ensure we have the right people in the right roles, working in person as much as possible from our most critical year yet.”

Changes to the Cloud Imperium Games website also indicate that one of the members of upper management, Chief Strategy Officer Carl Jones, was laid off from the company after having worked there for more than a decade.

Star Citizen has been in development for quite some time, being one of the most ambitious games out there. Since its announcement, the game has raised more than $750 million in funding through various methods of crowdfunding. The 1.0 release for the game is reportedly coming soon, but Cloud Imperium Games has yet to announce an official release date.

Squadron 42 is a single-player action title where players control ships in smaller-scale battles. The game is set to be a companion to Star Citizen, and will also feature actor Mark Hamill as one of its characters. The game is slated to be released in 2026.

At the recent CitizenCon, however, the developer finally offered a long overdue and extended look at Squadron 42, showcasing over an hour of gameplay footage. The showing offers a healthy and extended look at the cinematic single-player title, which touts a star-studded cast of Mark Hamill, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, Andy Serkis, and Gillian Anderson, among others.

In addition to extensive gameplay footage and a new trailer to cap off the game’s newest showing, Cloud Imperium Games has also announced a rough release window for the title- though it looks like those looking forward to the game still have quite a wait ahead of them.

Back in 2022, the developer said Squadron 42 was still 1-2 years away at the time, though last year, it was stated that the game was finally feature complete, leading some to wonder whether it was finally approaching release. Cloud Imperium Games has announced, however, that Squadron 42 is due out in 2026, which means the game still isn’t as far along in development as some may have recently assumed. 

Squadron 42 is now ‘feature complete’

The headline from Cloud Imperium Games’ Squadron 42: I Held the Line deep dive is that Star Citizen’s standalone single player campaign is now ‘feature complete’, with development now focused on what they dub ‘the polishing phase.’ According to CIG, this means extra emphasis is now being placed on the game being fun by “optimising and fine-tuning all aspects of the gameplay experience to deliver an unprecedented cinematic adventure.” There’s still no solid release window for Squadron 42 though, so it’s likely the polishing phase will take considerable time to complete.

Development split into ‘strike teams’

With development moving into the polishing phase CIG have reorganised their structure into self-sufficient strike teams giving each team the autonomy to focus on individual areas of the game to deliver the best experience overall. This means that art-driven teams, performance capturers, or staff concentrating on gameplay can hone in with laser precision on their specific areas before it’s all combined into a unified whole come Squadron 42’s release.

Improvements made to spaceship piloting mechanics

According to CIG, immense attention has been placed on the feel of your character as they pilot their ship, with emphasis on interstellar combat encounters adding to the overall immersiveness of the spaceflight experience. The spacecraft manoeuvres on offer are designed to give a tactile impression of being a pilot. From firing weapons, taking hits, or firing afterburners to evade attack, to the new precision targeting mode, closer engagement distances, and enhanced enemy ship AI with more varied behaviours, space combat is set to be the premium feature of Squadron 42.

Dialled in gameplay appearances

CIG’s Senior Game Director Richard Tyrer speaks on Squadron 42’s deep dive video of dialling in gameplay features including ship flight models for both atmosphere and space, covering master modes, control surfaces, HUDs, and multi-function displays. What’s clear in this statement is CIG are spending a great deal of time focusing on the minutiae of the experience, extracting as much as they can from minor detail to create the most believable big picture possible.

Overhauled scanning, targeting, and marking systems

When in space flight, there are now much more efficient methods to highlight key objectives, mission targets, and high-level scan information thanks to the overhauled scanning, targeting, and marking systems. This means that the overall view in space remains as clean as possible with the capability to highlight only mission critical objectives on screen.

Improved environmental design

How your character seeps into the world crafted around them has seen major improvements too. Additions include environmental puzzles unique to each location, but the overall goal here is to contribute to fulfilling Squadron 42’s overarching story through world building. Whether it’s when navigating the debris of an exploding star or creeping through the confines of a dusty air vent, environments are believable with the state of mind of its inhabitants also given key consideration.

Enhanced character animation

A core requirement to add a grounded sense of reality to Squadron 42’s improved environmental design has been to craft new, enhanced character animations. According to CIG, character interaction with the world must exhibit tactility. To do this, they’ve made sure any interaction with the environment – closing an air vent valve or force opening a blocked door, for instance – is physically represented in character animation.

Military multi-tool

Special mention in the I Held the Line deep dive goes to the military multi-tool, a single handheld device that integrates numerous attachments. When activated, this essential device bears the appearance of Half-Life’s Gluon Gun, but it’s deployed by CIG here as a tool to move objects around the environment at distance to solve puzzles.

Wealth of improvements to FPS combat

With advances in looting, stealth, and character balance alongside more lifelike weapon feel including better locomotion and realistic scopes, first person combat in Squadron 42 is said to have received significant improvement. There’s also a new and improved FPS radar and scanner system in play, which in practice casts a digital neon net over the battlefield to highlight enemy locations and mission specific objectives. There is a risk-reward with the radar and scanning systems in that engaging the scanner emits your location to opponents too. CIG clearly don’t want to make things too easy; engaging opponents in gunfire looks to be a tactical, drawn-out affair, definitely not run and gun.

Maelstrom powered destructible environments

Adding further carnage to gunfights is what CIG term Maelstrom powered destructible environments. Additional layers of dynamism are how CIG describe the benefits to such a system, but aside from the visual bombast of concrete confetti spewing across the battlefield, the ability to destroy the very foundation of your enemy’s cover is another tactical element which can be deployed to great effect. To facilitate this, a raft of rocket propelled weaponry and grenades look to be included in your arsenal.

Improved enemy AI

Enemies will be wise to your tactics though, with CIG promising enhancements to opposition AI. They’re now equipped with hundreds of combined traits, which hopefully means they’ll behave strategically, and perhaps unexpectedly, on the battlefield, ramping up the challenge across a host of unique FPS combat encounters, forcing players to hone their skills and tactical prowess to survive.

Focus on embellishing moments in existing narrative

Rather than make wholesale changes to Squadron 42’s ten-year developed storyline, the development team instead have opted to embellish moments in the existing narrative. Narrative Director Dave Haddock speaks of adding subtle interactions to augment the mood, enhance character development, and support gameplay. More lines of dialogue, including wild lines for various enemies encounterable on foot and in the cockpit, have been captured, with a host of diverse responses when exploring the galaxy the net result.

Cinematic animation overhaul

Heartfelt cinematic storytelling is the beating heart of Squadron 42, with characters providing performances to support the action. To give their performances opportunity to shine, CIG’s Cine team will be focusing on finalising edit-lock on all performances big and small during the polish phase. Demonstrated in the deep dive via a graceful before and after screen swipe, CIG is putting a lot of effort into realistic lighting showcasing the cast and their emotions in the best light possible, with fluidity between gameplay and cinematics a smooth as silk. Final shot compositions have been adjusted to best portray the drama too.

Enhanced social aspects

Between missions, players will have access to hub areas – spacecraft carriers and briefing rooms, that sort of thing – but despite the intergalactic backdrop CIG are keen to ground these environments in real-world feel. There are elements of inspecting, repairing, and refuelling your spacecraft before your next mission, but also these areas are stuffed with NPCs who’re going about their daily routines. Engineers loiter throughout the warehouse, inspected spacecraft returned from battle; medics hover through the corridors of the medical wing discussing how best to treat their patients. Every non-player character has a part to play, and it’s another vital step in providing a rich immersiveness to Squadron 42’s universe.

New space stations

New space stations are set to be introduced on a massive scale, with their unique functions and time in service reportedly the key aspects CIG have considered when establishing their tangibility within Squadron 42’s universe. Principal to achieving this is the incorporation of distinct artistic styles to each station as players progress through the game.

According to senior game director Richard Tyrer, Squadron 42 will feature tactical FPS combat and stealth in its gameplay. Tyrer goes on to talk about improved weapon feel and balance, and even destructible environments.

“Ultimately, this is the final phase of gameplay iteration before we fully transition into optimization and stability on the road to release,” says Tyrer.

The studio is yet to announce a release date for Squadron 42, however, with studio boss Chris Roberts stating that the studio wants to make sure that the game can deliver on the promises of “being this generation’s Wing Commander.”

Last year, we got to see some in-engine footage of Squadron 42 thanks to a leak. The video featured 9 minutes of footage from the game, and was more of an montage showing off a number of locations and characters, as well as a bit of gameplay.

A new video has leaked – supposedly an internal review of the game at the studio – that shows over 9 minutes of in-engine footage from Squadron 42. It’s not an extended demo, and instead functions more as a montage of sorts that shows a number of locations (both on the ground and in space) and several characters, before also showing some glimpses of gameplay footage, showing on-ground gameplay and dogfighting. You can check it out below.

As for when we’ll hear anything official about Squadron 42 or get to see an actual gameplay demo, that remains to be seen. Earlier this year, Cloud Imperium Games said that the game was still at least a year or two away from launch, while prior to that, the developer stated that it wasn’t going to show any new gameplay until it was closer to launch.

But all jokes aside, Cloud Imperium Games’ space sim is a fascinating study. It began with the promise of being a space sim unlike any other – a massively multiplayer online game where players could explore the universe, indulge in trading and piracy, and much more. With Chris Roberts of Wing Commander and Freelancer fame at the helm, it truly seemed like the space sim of many a genre fan’s dreams. Star Citizen began production in 2011 and subsequently launched a Kickstarter campaign in October 2012, initially amassing over $2 million.

Nearly 10 years later, crowd-funding for the game – which is now done through the sale of in-game ships – has exceeded over $444 million. The total number of “Star Citizens” is over 3.6 million but controversies have cropped up again and again. There is a decently sized portion of the community that’s satisfied with what the game has provided, even if there’s a ways to go yet. But the question remains – what exactly is the deal with Star Citizen? Why is it so controversial and what’s currently going on with it?

To answer that, we’d have to go back to the beginning. After its Kickstarter campaign concluded, Cloud Imperium committed to releasing Star Citizen in 2014. Alongside the Persistent Universe, which was the massively multiple online component, it would also release a cinematic single-player title called Squadron 42. The latter was developed by Foundry 42 under the supervision of Erin Roberts (Chris’s brother, who previously worked on Starlancer). With space combat and first person shooter elements, not to mention a star-studded cast that included Mark Hammill, Gary Oldman and Gillian Anderson, the scale of Squadron 42 was set very high. It’s also apparently going to have 70 missions for over 20 hours of gameplay…and this is only Episode 1. Subsequent episodes would be coming later.

From 2013 onwards, Cloud Imperium began releasing parts of the game that later came to be known as “Modules.” Hangar Module was first but it was Arena Commander in June 2014 that attracted the most attention. It offered ship combat and racing, though most had to play against the AI. Then there’s Star Marine, a first person shooter module that promised multiplayer modes and Zero-G. However, due to development woes, it would eventually release in 2016 and offered only two modes – Last Stand and Elimination – along with two maps at release.

Even throughout its initial years, Star Citizen saw its share of delays for numerous features (including Squadron 42, which we’ll come back to). It wasn’t long before some players started asking for refunds and while they would receive the same, Cloud Imperium would change its terms of service to prevent any further demands of the same. Now, refunds would only be granted if the project was abandoned, which hasn’t happened (contrary to popular belief).

However, in December 2015, the biggest and most significant module finally – the Persistent Universe. Leveraging the existing modules, players could finally explore the system, walking across four different planets and nine different moons. Zero G movement, a law system that would track criminal behavior among other players, procedurally generated biomes on planets – it was all available at last…with its share of technical and performance issues. Sure, it was rough but for many that had been along for the ride – and poured significant amounts of money, either through crowd-funding or purchasing in-game ships – it was a long time coming. Progress, as they say.

This isn’t to say that the controversies suddenly ceased, however. Before the Persistent Universe launched, anonymous and unnamed employees at Cloud Imperium spoke to The Escapist about development troubles in a report that’s since been pulled. A toxic work environment, racism, and concerns over the project’s massive scale were only some of the concerns that some had faced (with plenty of criticism levied at Chris Roberts himself). At the end of the day, Roberts officially stated that there was a “very strong vision for Star Citizen” and he had no doubt about what could be achieved.

Another major hurdle came from Crytek, which filed a lawsuit in 2017. It alleged that Cloud Imperium had used and modified CryEngine without its consent. In December 2017, Star Citizen was announced to be migrating over to Amazon Lumberyard. The continued use of CryEngine even with this fact was one of the complaints included in the lawsuit. As it turns out, however, Crytek provided the rights to CryEngine for use in Lumberyard as far back as 2016 to Amazon. The lawsuit was to be dismissed with $500,000 in legal expenses paid by Crytek but in February 2020, the two parties filed for a joint dismissal of the same with a settlement being reached.

The Persistent Universe continued growing through the years, becoming more stable and receiving some more features. Roadmap changes and delays became commonplace. In-game ships cost thousands of real money and continue to be a strong source of funding for development. An attempt to monetize the livestream for CitizenCon was met with significant backlash. Pay-to-win concerns arose following the removal of caps for United Earth Credits in August 2018 (because this being an MMOG, trade can be affected by such moves).

Roberts would dismiss these concerns, noting that there was no “specific win state” and that “you win by having fun, and fun is different things to different people.” “[It] isn’t some race to the top; it’s not like Highlander where ‘There can only be one!’—it is an open-ended persistent universe sandbox that doesn’t have an end game or a specific win-state.”

In that same year, one backer tried suing Cloud Imperium, having supported the game since 2012 and wanting their money back. Due to the changes in the terms of service, however, he would subsequently lose the lawsuit.

In 2019, another report came out from Forbes which talked about mismanagement, specifically about Roberts micromanaging things to an insane degree. Mark Day, a producer whose company was contracted to work on Star Citizen in 2013 and 2014, said, “As the money rolled in, what I consider to be some of [Roberts’] old bad habits popped up—not being super-focused. It had gotten out of hand, in my opinion. The promises being made—call it feature creep, call it whatever it is—now we can do this, now we can do that. I was shocked.”

One of the senior graphics engineers reportedly spent months at the behest of Roberts simply trying to nail the visuals of a ship’s shields. David Jennison, who served as lead character artist before quitting in 2015, reportedly worked on only five characters in 17 months. He noted that Roberts would often change approvals on characters but more importantly, “All the decisions for the character pipeline and approach had been made by Roberts. It became clear that this was a companywide pattern—CR dictates all.”

In March 2020, Cloud Imperium Games announced a change to its roadmap format. It noted that, “When we first embarked on this Roadmap journey two years ago, our goal was to make communication more transparent, specific, and insightful for all of you who help make Star Citizen and Squadron 42 possible.

While this goal remains unchanged, we’ve found that the format in which we’ve attempted to visualize our progress linearly does not match the approach we’re taking in the development of Squadron 42.” It noted that the roadmap “does not and cannot accurately represent development on a AAA chapter-based, story-driven game like SQ42.” So it sought to go back to the drawing board, creating something “more in line with our internal scheduling.”

Development progress would be shared in other ways but the idea was to offer more regular updates on Squadron 42. By this point, a beta was planned for Q2 2020. It would be delayed to Q3 2020 before Roberts declared in December 2020 that no gameplay would be showcased, nor a release date discussed “until we are closer to the home stretch and have high confidence in the remaining time needed to finish the game to the quality we want.” As you might imagine, many fans weren’t happy with this.

Another incident occurred in February 2021. Texas had faced several power troubles due to heavy snowstorms, which led to days of no heat or electricity (not to mention food and water shortages on top). Many studios based in the state had chosen to shut down. However, sources speaking to Kotaku revealed that Cloud Imperium expected employees to work through it at the studio (assuming “roads are clear”) or make up for it later, taking the time out of their vacation. On the surface, however, the company said that its staff’s “safety and well-being are a priority to us at all times” and reportedly offered flexible working hours.

However, the behind-the-scenes message was to figure something out, come what may. One source said, “In response to further expressions of concern, we were told to work directly with our managers for help. Yet, managers were facing the same crisis as the rest of us, and some lacked any method of communication for days.” Another source added, “I think people are just tired of how this company can be. It’s just about the money and not about their employees. They don’t really show they care when it matters most, and they have failed with this time and time again.”

In February 2022, Cloud Imperium would announce plans to significantly reduce the Release View of its progress tracker. This is because many features listed beyond the most immediate update would tend to slip to later dates (or abandoned altogether). Again, every time this happened, there was criticism because the project is almost ten years in development at this point and still not quite there yet. Cloud Imperium stated that the current state of the Release View “put too much attention on features that had a high probability of shifting around.

“It has become abundantly clear to us that despite our best efforts to communicate the fluidity of development, and how features marked as Tentative should sincerely not be relied upon, the general focus of many of our most passionate players has continued to lead them to interpret anything on the Release View as a promise.”

While it acknowledged that not everyone saw it the same way, “there still remains a very loud contingent of Roadmap watchers who see projections as promises. And their continued noise every time we shift deliverables has become a distraction both internally at CIG and within our community, as well as to prospective Star Citizen fans watching from the sidelines at our Open Development communications.” So going forward, anything beyond patches coming in the next quarter was removed.

So back to the original question – what is going on with Star Citizen? According to the Release View, patch 3.17 has a tentative Q1 2022 release date with new locations like Lorville Hospital and Space Station Clinics, AI “Vendor” behavior for the Coffee Shop in Area 18, and the addition of selling items to shops, ship-to-ship refueling and mining gadgets. Rivers will also be deployed within the Persistent Universe.

The last major update, released on December 23^rd 2021, saw a new dynamic event “Jumptown 2.0” added to the Persistent Universe, along with a rework of Gravlev Physics and improvements to the Dying Star Map with new areas, cover options and assets added. And yes, in both cases, new ships are also included.

It’s hard to predict where Star Citizen goes from here. It’s endured through nearly a decade’s worth of rough development, controversies, major events and seemingly endless scope. When it will be “fully” done is hard to say but it remains an anomaly in the games industry. A project unlike any other that still promises to be the “ultimate” something, one update and several millions of dollars at a time. Regardless, it’s there and you’re either out or way too deeply in.