It's a good Christmas holiday for Squadron 42 fans. The single-player campaign of Star Citizen got delayed multiple times from its original release date (2014, according to the Kickstarter campaign), and is now tentatively scheduled to enter beta testing in Q3 2020, but today Cloud Imperium Games shared a stunning new visual teaser trailer to demonstrate what they've been working on throughout 2019.

　　The ambitious Squadron 42 campaign is star-studded when it comes to the actors who've voiced and lent their appearances to the main characters: Gary Oldman is Admiral Ernst Bishop, Mark Hamill is Lieutenant Commander Steve Colton, Mark Strong is Captain Thomas Wade, Liam Cunningham is Captain Noah White, Gillian Anderson is Captain MacLaren, Rhona Mitra is Executive Officer Kelly, John Rhys-Davies is Randall Graves, Ben Mendelsohn is Julian Wexler and Andy Serkis is Thul'Oquray.

　　The plot will see the player character enlisting in the Earth Navy and trying to stop the encroaching Vanduul invasion, likened by the developers to the Vandals and Visigoths invasions of the Roman Empire. Players will get the opportunity to receive the United Empire of Earth (UEE) citizenship in Squadron 42 and then take that into the persistent universe of Star Citizen, though playing Squadron 42 isn't mandatory for those wanting to get into Star Citizen for the multiplayer elements.

　　Cloud Imperium Games head Chris Roberts has previously fueled the hype surrounding Squadron 42 as he stated that the level of 'connection and acting and characterization' will surpass even the best single player games out there.

　　I know there are elements — whether it’s God of War or Red Dead Redemption 2 or The Last of Us, other games have similar elements to this. I feel like we’re at a level that’s above that, a level of connection and acting and characterization. But of course, I’m very biased. I’m hoping it will push forward that sense of interactive — whatever you want to call it. In the old days, we’d call it interactive movies. This story where you are the star, that you’re driving forward.

　　In a year from now, barring any further delays, we should be able to assess it all for ourselves. Meanwhile, Star Citizen is about to get to $260 million pledged through crowdfunding, not even a month after surpassing the $250 million milestone.