You cannot buy Squadron 42 today — and that is the official state, not a shortage. No pre-order exists on Steam or anywhere else, and CIG's own store sells no Squadron 42 package. Here is what you can do now, what happens at launch, and how to not get misled. Store state verified: 2026-10-12.

What you can do right now: wishlist on Steam

The only official pre-launch action:

  1. Open the official Steam page (App ID 4045720).
  2. Sign in and click Add to your wishlist.
  3. Enable launch notifications.

Wishlisting is free, is not a pre-order, and commits you to nothing — when the game goes live in the planned Q2 2027 window, Steam notifies you and the store page becomes a normal purchase page. More detail in our Steam guide.

Why there is no pre-order

CIG has opened no pre-purchase channel. Its pledge store currently sells starter packages for Star Citizen (the multiplayer game) — none include Squadron 42 — plus a single piece of Squadron 42 merchandise (a sock set). Before launch-day shopping from anywhere, note that no price has even been announced yet (price guide).

Do you already own Squadron 42? The legacy backer rules

This trips up a lot of people, so here is the official rule from the 2016 package split announcement:

  • Packages bought before February 14, 2016 that included Squadron 42 still include it. The split "does NOT impact any current backers" — if you backed Star Citizen before the split, you have access to both games.
  • Packages bought after February 14, 2016 generally do not include Squadron 42 unless you specifically bought a package containing it.
  • If you "melted" (store-credited) an old package, CIG's buy-back program allows restoring unmelted packages — check your RSI account's buy-back area.

So if you backed in 2012–2016 and never melted your package, you likely already own the campaign. Check your RSI account hangar for a package listing Squadron 42 access before buying anything at launch.

What launch-day buying will look like

Expected (based on the store page's account linking, not yet a purchase flow): buy on Steam, link your RSI account when first launching, play. A standalone purchase through RSI's own store may also exist at launch — it has not been announced. Avoid gray-market key sellers and "pledge resale" shops; they are not official channels and their packages come with decade-old terms.

Purchase state verified 2026-10-12 against Steam and the RSI pledge store. Entitlement rules date to the 2016 split announcement, linked above.