Squad is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S, with a free PS5 alpha running from October 16 through October 25. Offworld Industries has not announced a full release date in its console announcement and FAQ.
Registration is open to all players through the Squad alpha signup page. The preview pits the Armed Forces of Ukraine against the People’s Liberation Army over the strategic rail line in Gorodok.
Steam players can also claim the Recon Team Pack for free during the event, but must do so by October 25 through the Steam store. The pack contains five woodland skin sets for the USMC, with some items also available to the USA faction:
- Pointman: M16A4, M27, and M38 rifles
- Liana: M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle
- Sweep: M249 Light Machine Gun and M240B General Purpose Machine Gun, also available to the USA faction
- Palm: M91A1 and M18 pistols
- Sage: M32 and M320 grenade launchers, also available to the USA faction
One Squad means shared updates, with platform differences
Offworld plans to align major updates across PC and console after the console launch, with exceptions for issues limited to a particular platform. The core gameplay will stay consistent, though controls, interface, certification, hardware optimization, and platform-specific features may differ.
Crossplay will work in defined, opt-in settings. PlayStation and Xbox players can join each other on official console crossplay servers. PC players can host community servers using the console ruleset, which will appear in a separate section of the PC server browser. Console players who enable crossplay can find eligible PC community servers there.
PC community-hosted servers will continue, while console will have official platform-specific servers, official crossplay servers, and console community-hosted servers. Modding will remain supported on PC, but mods will not be available on console at launch.
Console launch content and performance targets
Console’s planned launch modes are AAS, RAAS, Invasion, and Fireteam. The six announced maps are Al Basrah, Fallujah, Mutaha, Narva, Yehorivka, and Gorodok. The eight factions are the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, People’s Liberation Army, Armed Forces of Ukraine, Private Military Contractors, Middle Eastern Insurgents, Russian Ground Forces, and British Armed Forces.
Console PvP matches will support up to 100 players, while Fireteam PvE will support five. Offworld is designing a console-specific control scheme and interface, with aim assist but no mouse-and-keyboard support. The developer says the underlying gunplay will remain unchanged outside of aim assist, and local, squad, and command voice communication will remain central to play.
Current performance targets are 4K with dynamic resolution upscaling at 60 FPS on PS5 and Xbox Series X, and 1440p with dynamic resolution upscaling at 30 FPS on Xbox Series S. Offworld says it is still optimizing for console and will share final performance details closer to release.
Console purchases will be separate from PC ownership, with no cross-progression. DLC and cosmetics will not transfer between platforms, and the console release will be digital-only.
Would you use opt-in PC-console community-server crossplay, or stick to official console servers? For updates as the October alpha begins and crossplay plans develop, stay connected on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
Squad
Developed by Offworld Industries
