'Battlefield 4' Update: Squad Join Beta Now Available

“Battlefield 4” players can now join a beta to play in squads for up to five people before joining a multiplayer server, according to a post Friday on the official “Battlefield” blog.

“Squad Join Beta allows you to set up a squad for up to 5 people before joining a multiplayer server,” EA DICE announced. “This means that you and 4 of your friends can join a ‘Battlefield 4’ match as a squad, and deploy directly in the game together. Once in-game, you and your squad mates are guaranteed to stick together over rounds.”

More information was posted via the game’s blog:

How It’s Done

To join Battlefield 4 as part of a squad, simply choose “Squad Join Beta” in the game’s multiplayer menu. Here you will be able to see a list of active squads, or create your own. A list of the five slots will appear, with the squad leader indicated by a star. When you’re good to go, just initiate quickmatch to join a game, and you’ll be in-game with your squad mates, ready to bring your team to victory.

Also, if you’ve left your squad and want to re-join it, you can do so -- if the squad has a free slot. Joining this way will enable you to both join the squad and the match at the same time.

Other Squad Join Features

As mentioned, this is the first iteration of Squad Join and other features for it are planned, with the first major update coming within the next months (a more exact date will be communicated later). In this multi-release process, we are working on features like managing party members, and making Squad Join available for all game modes.

Initially, Squad Join Beta will be available in the Battlefield 4 base game maps in the Conquest, Team Deathmatch, Obliteration, Rush and Domination game modes. All the other Battlefield 4 maps and more game modes will be supported in later iterations of Squad Join.

EA DICE continues to roll out a number of updates for the glitchy game, with recent fixes designed to repair a number of bugs, including camera jittering and soldiers firing in the wrong direction when turning.

Though EA DICE has launched a number of updates for 2013’s first-person shooter “Battlefield 4,” many players still complain the game is broken, citing countless issues and problems. Since Oct. 29, when it was released, "Battlefield 4" has had major technical issues and crashes on all platforms. When players voiced their complaints, EA DICE responded by making more patches for the game.

The company recently promised users that future game development would be on hold until “BF4” was working correctly.

“We know we still have a ways to go with fixing the game -- it is absolutely our No. 1 priority,” an EA representative told gaming website IGN in December. “The team at DICE is working nonstop to update the game. We know many of our players are frustrated, and we feel your pain. We will not stop until this is right.”