The fact devs have said that it is needed for s42 because it is client/server still just makes me lol even more.
They're lying.
It's a single player game, and both CryEngine and Lumberyard already have support for visibility culling - the staple of ALL game engines - which is all a single player game needs.
They know this - that's why SSOCS is no longer in dev and/or the roadmap.
That SQ42 is client-server, just like SC, makes it less of an issue because the [local] server doesn't have to do anything but pull data off the [local] HDD.
The whole SSOCS debable is about the server pulling in data as-needed. Because both games are based on the same engine, unless they branch off the engine into two parts (one for SC & SQ42), which would be a very major headache, it's an all or nothing type deal now.