✉️ Letter from the Chairman – Year in Review & Looking Ahead (Summary)

As 2025 comes to an end, Chris Roberts reflects on a defining year for Cloud Imperium Games.
The focus of this letter is clear: Star Citizen’s “Year of Playability”, the steady march of Squadron 42 toward release,
and the technological foundations being laid for 2026 and beyond.

⭐ 2025 – The “Year of Playability”

2025 marked a turning point for Star Citizen.
More people played, and played longer, than at any time in the project’s history.

Key milestones:

• Over 64 million hours played (up from 48 million in 2024)
• Record-breaking peak concurrency and daily unique users
• 40–60% growth in average daily users and peak concurrency
• 57% fewer player disconnects per million player hours compared to 2024

This success was driven by a deliberate focus on: stability, performance, quality of life, and making the game worth returning to.

🌌 Star Citizen – A Growing Universe

🪐 Two Star Systems in One Year

• Release of two playable star systems within a single year
• The return of the fan-favorite landing zone Levski
• Numerous new locations added across the ‘verse

🧠 Server Meshing as the Key Enabler

• With Alpha 4.0.1 (live on January 28), Star Citizen entered a new era
• A larger, more performant, and more stable universe
• Shared instances supporting up to 700 players, with tens of thousands online concurrently

While some legacy systems (such as elevators and ATC) showed initial issues,
Server Meshing itself has been stable from day one.

Benefits include:

• Significantly improved server performance
• Fast recovery from server or client crashes
• No loss of player progress — a major quality-of-life improvement

🎮 Gameplay, Missions & Vehicles

🧩 More Content Than Ever Before

• Large-scale events like hunting an Irradiated Apex Valakkar or encountering Yormandi
• Longer-running storylines that add depth and context to the universe
• Expanded weather systems and planetary conditions
• Continued improvements to AI, player interaction, and character behavior

🚀 Ships & Vehicles

• 24 new vehicles introduced in 2025
• Ongoing improvements to existing ships and ground vehicles
• Broader gameplay options and better everyday usability

📦 Delivery Pace

2025 set a new internal benchmark:

• 11 major patches
• 40+ live publishes
• 147 PTU builds
• Multiple tech previews

This faster cadence allowed quicker iteration, faster feedback loops, and more playable content throughout the year.

⚙️ Engineering – A New Layer of Depth

With Star Citizen Alpha 4.5, Engineering gameplay entered the live universe:

• New onboard roles and responsibilities
• Real-time system management and decision-making
• A critical step toward meaningful multicrew coordination

Engineering is intentionally being refined live, ahead of future systems such as:

• Physically based destruction (Maelstrom)
• More realistic shield gameplay
• The upcoming crafting system

🥽 Experimental VR Mode

As a quiet “holiday surprise,” an experimental VR mode launched with Alpha 4.5.

Why VR fits Star Citizen:

• A fully physicalized world
• Consistent first- and third-person perspectives
• True-scale ships, environments, and equipment

Early feedback has been very positive, though improvements are still planned:

• Diegetic UI readability
• FPS input and control behavior
• Expanded controller support

These advances were made possible by:

• Core engine optimizations
• The transition to Vulkan
• Ongoing graphics and performance work

🎬 Squadron 42 – Approaching Beta

• All chapters are now fully playable from start to finish
• Regular internal playthroughs are underway
• Estimated playtime: 40+ hours

What sets Squadron 42 apart:

• Seamless transitions between on-foot gameplay, vehicles, planets, and systems
• No loading screens
• Exceptional attention to:
  • Writing and performances
  • Environments and lighting
  • Audio, cinematics, and design

The focus now is on polish, optimization, and bug fixing,
with Beta and release targeted for 2026.

🤝 Community – The Heart of the Project

• Hundreds of Bar Citizen events held worldwide
• 24 attended in person by CIG staff
• Online racing events, watch parties, and social meetups throughout the year

CitizenCon Direct stood out as a major moment:

• Dozens of watch parties across the globe
• A strong sense of connection despite physical distance

The community continues to be the driving force behind Star Citizen and Squadron 42.

🔭 Eye on the Horizon – 2026 and Beyond

🌐 Dynamic Server Meshing

• Real-time reconfiguration based on player activity and server load
• Long-term goal: thousands of players in a single shared universe instance
• Foundation for large-scale group gameplay and instanced content

🌍 Genesis Planets

• Next-generation planetary technology
• Denser, dynamically assembled biomes
• Living ecosystems shaped by natural rules and design intent
• Supported by a new AI population management system

📦 Core Systems Upgrades

Major improvements planned for:

• Inventory
• Insurance
• Item Recovery
• Cross-patch persistence

The goal: faster, more stable, and more intuitive interactions with player-owned items.

🪐 Conclusion

2025 was a milestone year:

• Star Citizen reached its most playable state yet
• Stability and performance improved dramatically
• The foundation for future expansion is firmly in place

Star Citizen and Squadron 42 exist because of the community.
And 2026 is set to take the next major step forward.

Summary based on the official “Letter from the Chairman” by Cloud Imperium Games (2025).