Star Wars: Squadrons only has a couple more months until its release date in October, when players will finally be able to form their team and fly for the Empire or Rebellion. With the next generation of consoles also looming, the development team behind Squadrons has addressed whether players will be able to take their Star Wars game with them across consoles.
Star Wars: Squadrons is a flight-simulator style game that will immerse players into the aerial space battles of the Star Wars franchise. Players will be able to choose from a range of different ships from both the Rebel and Empire fleets and compete in dogfight style battles with five per team. Star Wars: Squadrons also features a range of in depth customization options allowing players to load out their ships in with a range of different styles and abilities.
So far, Star Wars: Squadrons has only been announced for PS4, Xbox One and PC platforms but many players have been wondering whether the game will be accessible on next gen hardware when it is released sometime in Holiday 2020. Creative Director of Squadrons, Ian Frazier, has revealed that there are no plans to release the game separately for PS5 and Xbox Series X however, he expects the game to be backward compatible with the new consoles.
This means players can purchase the game when it releases for current consoles and will still be able to play it if they then buy one of the next gen consoles. Backward compatibility has been somewhat unclear so far, with Sony and Microsoft issuing little clarity on how it will work on the new consoles. The PS5 for instance is expected to have backward compatibility with 'most' PS4 games, but how games will be determined or whether backward compatibility will extend to previous generation games has not been announced.
It seems Star Wars: Squadrons can add itself to the lineup games that will also be available for next generation consoles. Assassin's Creed: Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077 are going to be available on both current and new consoles with a free upgrade to next gen for those that buy on PS4 or Xbox One.
Star Wars: Squadrons will also feature cross-play across all platforms. This is good news for players, as the range of gaming platforms continues to diversify, it means that squads will be able to form no matter which hardware a player chooses. For PS4 players Star Wars: Squadrons will also be available in VR, featuring a fully-immersive flight simulator experience.
Star Wars: Squadrons will release October 2, 2020, for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.