After five years in early access, multiplayer tactical shooter Squad finally launched this week. Up to 100 players can romp around big levels on foot and in vehicles, in action which sits somewhere between Battlefield and Arma on the simulated soldier seriousness scale. It was started by some of the folks behind Battlefield 2 mod Project Reality, y’see. Though just because the game’s now out of early access, doesn’t mean the devs are done with it. They’ve laid out plans for new modes, maps, and more that stretch into at least next year.
Squad officially launched yesterday, and the Version 1.0 update was a big’un. It bumped the player cap up to 100 soldiers per server, added a new map set in Fallujah along with the new Middle Eastern Alliance faction, put in the new 4v4 vehicle deathmatch mode Track Attack, and fixed and tweaked and optimised a whole lot. See the v1.0 patch notes for everything.
The developers, Offworld Industries have also laid out their plans for the future on Squad’s public roadmap. Looking to the new few months and into 2021, they’re working on new maps, factions, vehicles, and weapons, as well as overhauling some existing elements. Plus, fast-roping so you can zoop right down onto the battlefield.
Squad is available on Steam, where a 25% launch discount brings the game down to £24.37/€28.12/$29.99 until next Wednesday, the 30th.
Marsh Davies Prematurely Evaluated Squad way back in 2015 and dug it, despite some rough times with rude squadmates. He said, “I find the game sufficiently thoughtful and severe that I am inspired to care a lot more about any given life. Even if it remained infantry-only, I could see this finding a happy home for itself between Arma and Battlefield, and forthcoming features sound like they will multiply the vectors by which you can assault the enemy.” Forthcoming features did indeed do that over the following five years.