Earlier today, Xbox.com accidentally leaked the existence of Star Wars: Squadrons. Since the cat was out of the bag, Electronic Arts officially unveiled the game hours after via a Tweet. So strap in, pilots, and get ready to relieve that classic Star Wars space battle goodness.
Remember Star Wars: Project Maverick from a few weeks back? All signs point to Project Maverick being Squadrons. Signs also point to a late 2020 PC and console release. Time will tell if it’s going to be available on next-gen consoles or remain firmly current-gen. Regardless, the force is definitely strong with this one.
Despite the hype that’s sure to come from this, it might be worthwhile to keep certain expectations in check. Rumor has it that it’s going to be on the smaller side when compared to bigger industry games, so maybe don’t expect something on the scale of Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Still, they’re only rumors, and there’s certainly a big enough fan base to justify another big Star Wars game.
As if that’s not enough, there’s also a huge fan base for X-Wing/Tie Fighter battle games specifically. One only needs to remember back to 1998’s Star Wars: Rogue Squadron for the Nintendo 64 to realize how popular this specific genre is with this particular IP. Rogue Squadron was wildly successful, prompting the game’s producer to remark that the game sold 100 times better than anybody expected.
It then spawned two direct sequels for the Nintendo Gamecube – Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader and Star Wars Rogue Squadron 3: Rebel Strike. There was also a spiritual successor for the Nintendo 64, Star Wars Episode 1: Battle For Naboo. However, like the film it’s based on, it’s better left forgotten.
Next week, Electronic Arts is hosting EA Play Live, so there’s a good chance that we’ll find out more about the title then.
Hopefully, the rumors about it being a smaller project aren’t true. There are a total of nine series films to pull from now, not counting the spin-offs. If the game follows the route of older titles and recreates iconic moments from the series, that’s a lot of epic space battles to take part in. If the game is smaller in scope, however, we might only see a fraction of what we want to see.
What do you want to see in it? The first battle that comes to mind is Hoth. Yes, it’s been depicted in just about every Star Wars game put out, but that’s just a testament to its popularity. I can’t speak for everybody, but I’m sure most of us are down with another trip to those frozen wastelands.
