While there are plenty of memes about Star Citizen being in forever Alpha, and Squadron 42 never releasing at all, Cloud Imperium Games is hard at work on both games, and has made some significant progress on them this year. In a letter to fans from Cloud Imperium founder and CEO Chris Roberts, we got a round-up of all the work done on the sci-fi world of Star Citizen in the year 2025.
The main game itself, Star Citizen, got an experimental VR mode as a "Christmas surprise" for fans in Alpha 4.5. "What began as a passion project quickly caught people's attention, and the response from those who have tried it has been genuinely exciting," Roberts wrote. "I've long believed that Star Citizen is a natural fit for VR because of how we build our worlds. We physicalize almost everything, keeping first and third-person views consistent in a shared universe. That approach takes more effort, but it makes the experience feel grounded and real, and it highlights the value of those design choices in a way few other technologies can."
This VR mode is set to be improved alongside the regular ways to play Star Citizen as development continues. Regarding the more narrative-focused spin-off Squadron 42, Roberts writes that the game is content complete, and Cloud Imperium developers are playing through it now.
"Squadron 42 is a large game, over forty hours in length, and it's becoming increasingly clear how special it will be once the remaining polish, optimization, and bug fixing is complete," Roberts says. "A big part of what makes this possible is the technology we've built at CIG over many years. 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."
Even if the content is complete on Squadron 42, it could still be years before we've got the game in our hands. Polish on such a large project can take a long time, so perhaps don't hold your breath for an imminent release. It seems Star Citizen will also be remaining in Alpha for the foreseeable future.