A listing for a new game called Star Wars: Squadrons, featuring in-game art of X-Wing and Tie Fighter pilots, briefly appeared on the Microsoft Store, fueling curiosity for the next big EA Star Wars game. The listing was actually just a title, game artwork, and pre-order button on the Microsoft Store home page, according to a screenshot shared on the Resetera forum. The button went nowhere and the only other information was the game's subtitle: "Pilots Wanted." No release date, price, or release information for the current consoles or just the upcoming PS5 and Xbox Series X.
- Here's the PS5: the console is finally revealed in two formats, disc and digital only
- Every PS5 game we saw at Sony's gaming event
- PS4 vs PS5: is it worth the upgrade?
Of course, Squads could be the next game EA is preparing for the franchise, which would be codenamed Star Wars Maverick, which itself has seen only weird details aside from stylized game art. Recent rumors suggest that EA will officially unveil Maverick shortly before its EA Play showcase scheduled for June 18, which would have happened before the now-canceled E3 2020. The game was teased, but the Microsoft Store leak spoiled the surprise, according to Jeff Grubb of VentureBeat. Star Wars: Squadrons will be "an air/space combat game about piloting ships in head-to-head battles. It has a single-player campaign, but the main focus of squadrons is multiplayer," sources told Grubb. Motive had worked on the single player campaign for Star Wars: Battlefront II and helped BioWare on Anthem, but is now the team's lead developer.
Where does that leave Star Wars: Battlefront II?
2017's Star Wars: Battlefront II got off to a rocky start, angering fans over a paid loot system, but the return of that system, along with years of fixes, has rebuilt the game's reputation and community. As a Battlefront game, it's mostly about large-scale ground battles, but it does have specific team-based space combat modes. In this sense, squads could overlap with Battlefront II, but there's plenty of room for a much more robust all-star experience. The history of Star Wars gaming is rich with games like the Tie Fighter, X-Wing, and Rogue Squadron series, which are more complex than the arcade battles of Battlefront II. There's also a question of scale: Squadrons game art suggests Tie Fighter and X-Wing combat, but the Star Wars universe is filled with ships of all sizes and dynamic worlds that could make fighting that much more robust than ever. what we saw in Battlefront II. We'll have to wait for EA and EA Motive to officially reveal the game, which we're expecting soon on EA Play online only. Via Eurogamer