EA Officially Announces First-Person Dogfighting Game 'Star Wars: Squadrons'

A galaxy far, far away just got crowded thanks to a new space-based combat game from EA. “Star Wars: Squadrons” has been announced by the company featuring the franchise’s iconic starfighters in head-to-head single-player and multiplayer throwdowns.

X-Wing Fighters, Y-Wing Fighters, and U-Wing Fighters are usable from the side of the New Republic. Over on what’s left of the Empire, you have TIE Fighters, TIE Interceptors, TIE Bombers, and TIE Reaper fighters to choose from. You can also modify your ship and divert the power between its systems as you are placed right in the cockpit of your fighter of choice.

A variety of multiplayer modes are promised with “Star Wars: Squadrons,” including a traditional dogfighting mode. “Fleet Mode” is another choice, where teammates join forces to destroy a capital ship.

Motive Montreal is the game’s developer, having previously contributed to both “Star Wars: Battlegrounds II” and “Star Wars: Anthem” in the past.

“Plan every skirmish with your squadron in the briefing room before taking off to the evolving battlefields across the galaxy. Pilots will triumph as a team in known and never-before-seen locations, including the gas giant of Yavin Prime and the shattered moon of Galitan,” is posted on the game’s official site.

Multiplayer support between players will be available on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. The game will also provide the option to play its entirety in virtual reality on the PS4 and PC with cross-play support.

“'Star Wars: Squadrons' also shows that EA has learned some considerable lessons from the loot box debacle that marred the first several months of ‘Star Wars: Battlefront II,’” reports The Verge. While the game will offer extensive customization options for both gameplay-altering items like weapons, hulls, engines, and shields as well as the ability to customize cockpits, ships, and pilot appearance, EA promises that everything unlockable will be “earned solely through gameplay.”

The last game in the franchise dedicated exclusively to space battles was “Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike” and that was back in 2003 for the Nintendo GameCube. Before that, there were PC games in the 1980s that first attempted to bring players into the cockpits of these starfighters with a focus on X-Wing Fighters and TIE Fighters.

Before any actual gameplay footage is revealed though, The Verge notes that an emphasis on exclusively first-person dogfighting could make this game the rightful successor to the “X-Wing” franchise that fans have long been waiting for.

October 2 is the scheduled release date for “Star Wars: Squadrons” on the Xbox, PS4, and PC although EA has yet to announce if the same game will be adapted to the next-gen PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X when those are launched later this year.