• TikTok
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Star Wars Kids
Star Wars Logo

Search

My Account Logout
  • More More
    • NEWS + FEATURES
      • THE LATEST
      • ANDOR
      • CELEBRATION
      • QUIZZES + POLLS
      • BOOKS + COMICS
    • VIDEO
      • ALL VIDEO
      • THIS WEEK! IN STAR WARS
    • FILMS
    • SERIES
      • All Series
      • Andor
      • Skeleton Crew
      • Ahsoka
      • The Mandalorian
    • GAMES + INTERACTIVE
      • View All
      • Star Wars Outlaws
      • Games + Apps
      • VR + Immersive
    • DATABANK
      • ALL DATABANK
      • ERAS
    • DISNEY+
      • STREAM NOW
      • EXPLORE
      • THE DISNEY BUNDLE
Local Nav | Drop-Down Phase III - 20231020
Local Nav | Drop-Down Phase III - 20231020
My Account Logout
  • other
  • instagram
  • twitter
  • facebook
  • youtube
  • other

All

  • Andor
  • Star Wars Celebration
  • Skeleton Crew
  • The Mandalorian
  • Ahsoka
  • The Acolyte
  • Obi-Wan Kenobi
  • The Book of Boba Fett
  • The Bad Batch
  • The Clone Wars
  • Visions
  • Behind the Scenes
  • Books + Comics
  • Characters + Histories
  • Collecting
  • Creativity
  • Disney Parks
  • Disney+
  • Events
  • Fans + Community
  • Films
  • Games + Apps
  • ILM
  • Interviews
  • LEGO Star Wars
  • Lucasfilm
  • Merchandise
  • Opinions
  • Quizzes + Polls
  • Recipes
  • Rogue One
  • Solo
  • Star Wars Day
  • Star Wars Rebels
  • Series
  • The High Republic
Games + Apps
Interviews
7 Insights and Things to Know About Star Wars: Squadrons

7 Insights and Things to Know About Star Wars: Squadrons

Following the galaxy-shaking announcement of the new Star Wars flight game, StarWars.com spoke with Motive Studios creative director Ian Frazier.

Dan Brooks
Dan Brooks
July 23, 2020

Following the galaxy-shaking announcement of the new Star Wars flight game, StarWars.com spoke with Motive Studios creative director Ian Frazier.

If you’ve ever loved Star Wars, you’ve probably wondered what it would be like to fly an X-wing or TIE fighter, if not dreamed of it. Soon, that dream will come closer to reality: announced last month, Star Wars: Squadrons is coming October 2 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and virtual reality. A brand-new flight game and the first of its kind for this generation of consoles, it will put players in the cockpits of X-wings, TIE fighters, and more iconic craft, bringing classic Star Wars dogfights to interactive life like never before in gaming. If a game could ever make you feel like you could take on the whole Empire (or New Republic) yourself, this is it. Following the reveal of Squadrons, StarWars.com was eager to uncover just a little more and caught up with developer Motive Studios' creative director Ian Frazier. Here’s everything we learned.

Star Wars: Squadrons gameplay

1. Classic Star Wars flight games influenced Squadrons in concrete ways.

As Frazier explains, several titles from the past made an impact on the Squadrons team, with certain elements from each becoming springboards. “If I had to pick just one, I’d say X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter is the game that inspired us most, as the core competitive multiplayer experience of Squadrons and some of our specific mechanics find their roots in that game,” Frazier says. “Also, the dual-perspective single-player story of our game is influenced by how much we loved the faction-specific, pilot’s-eye stories in the campaigns of X-Wing and TIE Fighter, respectively. We wanted to capture some of each faction's unique perspective by alternating between two separate pilots over the course of the plot. Meanwhile, the pace, energy, and raw sense of fun in the Rogue Squadron series has been an inspiration for us on Squadrons, especially while building certain missions for the single-player story.”

Star Wars: Squadrons New Republic pilots

2. While those beloved games of yesteryear were an inspiration, the Squadrons team was determined to make their mark on the genre.

Make no mistake -- Squadrons is not a nostalgia play. The developers wanted to pick up the baton (or proton torpedo) from classic games and move it forward. “From the beginning we wanted to draw inspiration from the past but not get stuck there,” Frazier says. “We’ve done a lot of things to make Squadrons’ gameplay really sing for a modern gamer, from a new power management system that’s built with a more player-friendly design than what we saw in the ‘90s, slick new aspects to the flight model like the ability to perform ‘drift’ turns, and of course everything that customization adds to the game. Being able to make your ship and your pilot your own, not only with cosmetics but with substantial changes to how your ship functions in combat, opens the door to a ton of gameplay depth.”

Star Wars: Squadrons gameplay

3. There are eight total ships in the game, and they were chosen for very deliberate reasons.  

Frazier and the team narrowed the ship roster down to craft that would appeal to fans and serve what they wanted to achieve with gameplay. “Our eight playable ships are the X-wing, A-wing, Y-wing, and U-wing for the New Republic, and the TIE fighter, TIE interceptor, TIE bomber, and TIE reaper for the Empire,” Frazier says. “Each of these ships falls into a particular role during space combat: fighter, interceptor, bomber, and support, respectively.

“As for why these ships, it was a combination of trying to hit the most iconic and recognizable ships that fans are most excited to play, and trying to bring something new to the formula, which is where those support ships come in. Each starfighter brings its own distinct feel and flavor, with its own core stats. In general, the New Republic ships are more durable thanks to their shields. Meanwhile, the Imperial ships tend to be more agile and hit harder, so you get a nice difference in feel between factions as a baseline. Then, of course, you add to that the different options each has in terms of what components they can equip, and the strategic layer of the game starts to emerge. A Y-wing is the only ship in the game that can equip an ion turret, for instance, while the support ships have certain utility abilities that are unique to them.”Star Wars: Squadrons support ships

4. Frazier has two favorite ships in the game, and they’re somewhat surprising choices.

“They’re probably the support ships -- the U-wing and the TIE reaper,” he says. “These are ships that weren’t featured in the classic games (both were introduced in the film Rogue One), so it’s super cool to get to see the inside of them.” Looks aside, they’ll make for a richer experience -- so think twice before running for that X-wing or TIE fighter.

“From a gameplay standpoint they have a really unique a varied role to play, with several different ways to kit them out to be sort of a ‘healer’ who’s there to help your team, a disabler who ruins the enemy team’s day, a defender who helps hold down an area and protect a capital ship, or some mix of the above,” Frazier says. “That versatility makes them a lot of fun to play.”

Star Wars: Squadrons gameplay cockpit view

5. Squadrons has sim elements, but it doesn’t sit in that genre.

As Frazier tells it, the goal was not to have Squadrons fit a standard definition of a type of game. Instead, it’s all about Star Wars fantasy fulfillment. “Squadrons is a first-person space combat game,” Frazier says. “Our game has several features built to create a sense of immersion and realism that many Star Wars fans have been craving -- the sort of thing that make you really feel like a pilot controlling a starfighter. At the same time, the experience is meant to be accessible for any player who has ever wanted to hop into an X-wing or TIE fighter.” Still, it does allow for a deeper experience than a typical shooter.

“Depending on what you’re looking for, we have options that will push your experience a bit closer to the ‘sim’ end of the spectrum or will keep it more accessible. Either way, we’re aiming for more of an immersive experience than an ‘arcade’ one. At the end of the day, our focus isn’t on checking the boxes of any particular genre -- our goal was simply to capture that core fantasy of being a Star Wars ace pilot and bringing that to life.”

Star Wars: Squadrons gameplay

6. Modern tech has made that “immersive experience” more impactful than previously possible.

Even just from the trailers, it’s easy to see that Squadrons is fast and gorgeous. The detail on the ships and their maneuverability, the explosions, the pilots’ expressions -- a Star Wars flight game has never looked better. That’s just one way that the tools powering modern gaming has lifted Squadrons to a new level. “All the classic games, though wonderful, are quite old now, so the level of visual and audio quality we’re able to deliver on with Squadrons is far, far beyond what was possible with those older titles, and I think it really helps players to immerse themselves in the game,” Frazier says. “As a simple example, our game features a multi-layered dynamic music system that allows John Williams’ incredible score to flow naturally back and forth over the course of a pitched Fleet Battle, letting players feel who’s winning or losing while fully immersed in the moment. Similarly, advancements in technology allow us to give players a pretty amazing opportunity: the entire game is playable end to end in VR, on both PC and PS4.”

Star Wars: Squadrons Lindon briefing

7. If you were excited when Squadrons was announced, the game makers heard you.


And it means everything. “It’s been outstanding!” Frazier says of the reaction to Squadrons. “For me personally, for the team at Motive, and for all our friends at Lucasfilm who’ve been working hard alongside us for the last two-plus years, it feels wonderful to finally get to show the game to the world and to see exactly what we’d hoped to see: a ton of Star Wars fans eager to hop in the cockpit!”

Star Wars: Squadrons arrives October 2 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and is available for pre-order now.

For more on Star Wars: Squadrons, check out StarWars.com’s in-depth coverage:

  • Explore the Star Wars: Squadrons game page
  • Read the full Star Wars: Squadrons announce
  • Go inside the making of the game with Ian Frazier, creative director at Motive, and Lucasfilm's Orion Kellogg
  • Discover highlights from the Star Wars: Squadrons reveal trailer and gameplay trailer
  • Buckle up and meet the characters of Star Wars: Squadrons in the StarWars.com Databank

Dan Brooks is Lucasfilm’s senior content strategist of online, the editor of StarWars.com, and a writer. He loves Star Wars, ELO, and the New York Rangers, Jets, and Yankees. Follow him on Twitter @dan_brooks where he rants about all these things.

Site tags: #StarWarsBlog

Related Topics

Interviews star wars games Star Wars: Squadrons

Related Stories

  • Star Wars Jedi: Survivor: Cameron Monaghan on Cal Kestis’ Next Adventure
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Star Wars Jedi: Survivor: Cameron Monaghan on Cal Kestis’ Next Adventure

    December 9, 2022

    December 9, 2022

    Dec 9

  • As Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Comes to Nintendo Switch, Sam Witwer Looks Back
    [object Object] [object Object]

    As Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Comes to Nintendo Switch, Sam Witwer Looks Back

    April 20, 2022

    April 20, 2022

    Apr 20

  • Star Wars: The Old Republic Celebrates 10 Years with Legacy of Sith Expansion and Stunning New Trailer
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Star Wars: The Old Republic Celebrates 10 Years with Legacy of Sith Expansion and Stunning New Trailer

    February 15, 2022

    February 15, 2022

    Feb 15

  • Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Strikes Back with New Remake
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Strikes Back with New Remake

    September 9, 2021

    September 9, 2021

    Sep 9

  • Hello There! Revenge of the Sith-Era Obi-Wan Kenobi Comes to Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes - Exclusive
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Hello There! Revenge of the Sith-Era Obi-Wan Kenobi Comes to Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes - Exclusive

    June 7, 2021

    June 7, 2021

    Jun 7

  • The Classic Star Wars: Republic Commando Blasts onto PlayStation and Nintendo Switch - Exclusive
    [object Object] [object Object]

    The Classic Star Wars: Republic Commando Blasts onto PlayStation and Nintendo Switch - Exclusive

    February 24, 2021

    February 24, 2021

    Feb 24

  • Lucasfilm Games Hits Lightspeed Toward the Future
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Lucasfilm Games Hits Lightspeed Toward the Future

    January 13, 2021

    January 13, 2021

    Jan 13

  • With the Star Wars: Squadrons CG Short “Hunted,” EA, Motive Studios, and ILM Tell a New Kind of Star Wars Story
    [object Object] [object Object]

    With the Star Wars: Squadrons CG Short “Hunted,” EA, Motive Studios, and ILM Tell a New Kind of Star Wars Story

    September 14, 2020

    September 14, 2020

    Sep 14

More From Star Wars:
  • TikTok
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • SWKids
  • Terms of Use
  • Additional Content Information
  • Privacy Policy
  • Children's Online Privacy Policy
  • Your US State Privacy Rights
  • Disney Store | Star Wars
  • Star Wars Helpdesk
  • Interest-Based Ads
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved