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Announcement from Squad Command

Message from Sgt. Ross:
Hey Squaddies,

It's been a while since we last spoke like this.

I'm Dustin, some of you may know me as SgtRoss. In the early days of Offworld, we thrived on our close relationship with our community. That connection has been weakened at a fundamental level. As a Founder and Director of Community, I see and hear your frustration that we don't listen, feedback is ignored, playtests are disregarded, updates are rushed, and many more issues persist. And you're right. Trust has been shaken, and that's on us.

We want to make this right. Over the past couple of months, we have been working on a new development strategy for Squad where you matter, we listen, we are transparent, and collaboration with you is at the center of how we move forward with Squad.

Part of the changes we are making is leadership. I will be stepping down as an executive to help lead a new Community Development Team within Squad, while the highly experienced and tenured Executive Producer Peter Maurice will step in to support Howitzer and the team, and guide Squad's overall development. I will let Peter provide more details on what to expect next.

We’d also like to thank Alex Boyce for his passion and his service as the Lead Designer to the game and to the team. And sincerely wish him every success on the next front.

I am excited for what the future of Squad holds. Thank you for holding us accountable and for caring so deeply about Squad and our community. Without you, Squad wouldn't exist.

Message from PMO
Hey everyone,

I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself properly. I’m PMO, the Executive Producer for Squad here at Offworld. I joined the team a few months back, and honestly, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind — a lot of learning, listening, and trying to understand what really makes Squad tick.

The more time I’ve spent with the game and with all of you, the more I’ve come to appreciate what Squad truly is at its core — a community-driven experience built on teamwork, communication, and passion. Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost sight of that. We haven’t done a good enough job listening, engaging, or delivering on the things that matter most to you. That needs to change, and that change starts now.

We’re shifting our focus back to community-first development. It won’t happen overnight, and we’ll probably stumble a few times along the way — but we’re committed to owning our mistakes and learning from them. That’s my promise to you.

As part of this shift, we’ve made some changes on the design leadership side to help us move forward with a renewed vision for Squad. A big piece of that vision is a brand-new Community Development Team. Their entire purpose is to listen, engage, and deliver — to focus on the things you’ve been asking for: long-standing bugs, quality-of-life improvements, and community wishlist items.

You’ll be hearing from me and this team a lot more often, and they’ll be putting together a public roadmap so you can see what’s being worked on and what’s coming next. The goal is to be more transparent, more responsive, and more consistent in how we communicate and update the game. That starts today, as we want to hear from you. Below this update, there is a {LINK REMOVED}https://store.steampowered.com/feeds/news/app/393380/#where we want to hear about your honest thoughts on the current state of Squad.

We know we’ve dropped the ball when it comes to regular updates, and we’re going to fix that. This new structure will help us get smaller, meaningful updates out more frequently, rather than waiting for huge patches that take too long to land.

One of the first things we’re tackling is vehicle handling — something we know hasn’t felt great for a while. We’re rolling out improvements in phases, and below you’ll see a mini-roadmap showing how that work will unfold.

Vehicle Handling Roadmap
Our goal: reduce frustration and make driving and vehicle combat in Squad feel smoother, more predictable, and more fun.

We’ll be rolling these improvements out in phases to be included with the next three game updates — each building on the last — while gathering your feedback at every step along the way.

10.0 – November 2025
Our Goal: Reducing frustration around braking and overall handling
Focus:
  • Brake and handbrake tuning across all vehicles
  • Steering and handling updates across all vehicles
  • CPV and Technicals have received an initial flip-handling pass
10.1 – December 2025
Our Goal: Reducing frustration with vehicles flipping too easily or getting stuck
Focus:
  • Flip pass on all vehicles (they’ll be much harder to flip)
  • Tracked vehicle object-interaction pass – tanks can now climb obstacles more naturally, reducing those “stuck on a tiny rock or stump” moments
10.2 – January 2026
Our Goal: Continued refinement and fine-tuning based on community feedback
Focus:
  • Spring-arm tuning pass
  • Additional vehicle tuning (suspension, gear ratios, improvement to overall feel)
  • Targeted bug fixes

We’ll keep gathering feedback between each phase and adjust as needed. Expect ongoing discussion, community playtests, and transparent updates as we go.

This is just the first step of our community-first roadmap — more areas of focus will follow as we stabilize vehicle handling and expand the development team’s scope.

Thank you for continuing to push us, hold us accountable, and care about this game as much as you do. We’ll keep working to earn that trust back — one update at a time.

See you on the field,
Peter … PMO
Executive Producer, Squad

Squad Player Feedback Survey Link:
{LINK REMOVED}https://store.steampowered.com/feeds/news/app/393380/#

Continue reading...
 

Squad Hotfix 9.0.4b

Hello Squaddies,

Today's 9.0.4b hotfix includes further adjustments to the Muzzle Smoke VFX attached to weapons by reducing Muzzle Smoke opacity across the board. We want to extend our thanks to the community for their help in identifying some of the underlying issues. While no changes have been made to impact effects and smoke grenades at this time, we will continue to investigate these issues.

We'll be monitoring the impact of these changes to the Muzzle Smoke VFX, so please continue to provide us feedback on Discord.

Thanks for your patience.

Offworld out!

Continue reading...
 

Squad Hotfix 9.0.4

Hello Squaddies,


Today's hotfix includes an adjustment to the Muzzle Smoke VFX attached to weapons. We have reduced the reflections that were appearing on the smoke, making it seem much more opaque than we initially intended. This iteration, depending on your feedback, will continue to receive adjustments.

We are also aware that these smoke VFX affect some other aspects of Squad, including the thrown smoke grenades and terrain smoke. We are working on those issues as well, but we do not have a timeframe for resolutions just yet.

Vehicle handling and physics are also very high up on our priority list. This system is quite complex and takes time to rework and make adjustments that feel valuable and authentic. We are working on a series of patches that will adjust vehicles in a phased approach as soon as possible. We will have more community updates on this soon!

Thanks for your patience.

Offworld out!

Continue reading...
 

Pick up Squad for a cool 60% off as we head into the Steam Autumn Sale!

“We've intercepted new transmissions. Ready to receive!”

Listen up Squaddies. The Steam Autumn Sale is here! From September 29th - 10 AM PT (GMT-7) until Ocotber 6th - 10 AM PT (GMT-7), save 60% off on Squad! Now is a great time to join Squad, as we have just launched our Unreal Engine 5 update, and have the Ukrainian Ground Forces coming soon as our next Faction!

8ffa613f82e8b70b70995c677e5934c84a32ebd7.png


Join the Squad Discord here, to discuss all things Squad.

Offworld Out.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/393380/Squad/

Continue reading...
 

Squad Hotfix 9.0.3

Hello Squaddies,

Today, we have a short update for you for our 9.0.3 hotfix rolling out this morning.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a crash that can happen mid-game after the player changes the settings.


  • Fixed a crash related to triggering emotes with an invalid player ID.


  • Fixed a crash in the world icon subsystem that happened more likely a bit after approaching instruction signs in tutorials.


  • Fixed the issue where players could place SZ-1 explosives on certain parts of the Scout's recon drone.


Map Updates & Bug Fixes

General



  • Reduced memory usage on foliage-heavy maps.

Al Basrah


  • Fixed missing orchards in the northeast corner of the map.

Goose Bay


  • Fixed a bug that caused blue artefacts to appear on grass.

Gorodok


  • Fixed various foliage assets blocking grenade and explosion damage.

Sanxian Islands


  • Fixed missing wooden dock meshes at one of the Sanxian Main Bases.

Yehorivka


  • Fixed a bug that caused a lake to float in mid-air.

Mod SDK Update


  • 9.0.3. Mod SDK is now available on the Public Testing Branch. Note that we will be archiving and sunsetting the latest UE4 Mod SDK next week, so please make sure to back-up your files.


Offworld out!

Continue reading...
 

Enlist now during the Free Weekend + Graphics Settings Guide

Welcome to Squad!

70612a557fc14c2b5a77101ba1c5c12d5eec8d2a.png


Squad is free to play this weekend from September 11, 10AM PT to September 15, 10AM PT. That's right, enlist now and get in the action for free this weekend with this deep, tactical FPS shooter that provides authentic combat experiences through teamwork, communication, and realistic combat. We recently released Update 9.0, a significant update moving Squad from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5. You can read all about the update by checking out the patch notes here.


Squad will also be 60% off during this time, so grab your buddies and join the fight now in Squad!


https://store.steampowered.com/app/393380/Squad/

Graphics Settings Guide

For all new players joining us this weekend or returning players booting up Squad with Update 9.0, here is a graphics settings guide to help you get into Squad and play. You can also check out the Update 9.0 FAQ, which we'll keep updating with frequently asked questions by the community.

Note, please keep these in mind with Update 9.0:


  • DX11 is not supported.


  • Make sure you have at least 6GB of VRAM.


  • Update your GPU drivers and Windows to the latest version.
SETTINGS

We strongly recommend that you tweak your graphics settings after updating to Update 9.0, as our upgrade from UE4 to UE5 has changed how those settings work. Visually, the “Medium” setting in UE5 provides higher quality than the “Epic” setting on UE4. The "High" and "Epic" settings on UE5 fully utilize the power of the modern GPU generation and are not recommended for previous GPU generations.

8e86b6b4eea46fff05589f704906a519412538a6.png



  • Use the Defaults button to run the benchmark.


  • Tweak your upscaler resolution.


  • Lower demanding settings such as Global Illumination Quality and Shadows.

    • Alternatively, start from Low settings and work your way up.

  • If you are using Frame Gen, please keep these in mind:

    • Intel Frame Gen is supported from GTX 10XX and newer.


    • AMD Frame Gen is supported from RTX 20XX and newer.


    • Nvidia Frame Gen is supported from RTX 40XX and newer.

NOTE


  • On the first launch, textures might temporarily be low quality to prevent hitching.


  • Wake Simulation is currently not recommended, as it causes PiP scope issues.
RETURNING PLAYERS

  • Save your settings and clear your cache.


  • Unsubscribe from all Squad workshop mods.


  • Consider lowering your settings: in UE5, Medium settings provide higher quality than Epic on UE4.

3a8952ee05854a84bc5bdc6101a88d435b0c952b.png


Continue reading...
 

Squad Hotfix 9.0.2

Hello Squaddies,


Today we have a short update for you for our 9.0.2 hotfix


System & Gameplay Updates


  • Added a pop-up that advises to update GPU driver when on a known unstable driver version

Bug Fixes


  • Fixed a crash in the world icon subsystem that happened more likely a bit after approaching instruction signs in tutorials


  • Fixed a crash related to vehicle physics


  • Fixed TLF 4th Armored Brigade battlegroup having too many MBTs when on defense


  • Fixed several skirmish layers where too many vehicles were spawning in

Map Updates & Bug Fixes

Manicouagan


  • RAAS v2 - Fixed CRF not being available


See you out there!

Continue reading...
 

Update 9.0 FAQ

Welcome to Update 9.0's Frequently Asked Questions! We've put together answers from the dev team to some of the most frequently asked questions we've started to see coming from the community. If you missed it, we released Update 9.0 this past week, moving from Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) to Unreal Engine 5 (UE5), with a whole list of changes to Squad. You can read all of the patch notes here.


Note that the below does not encapsulate every question we've seen bubbling up from the community—some require more input from other members of the dev team, and some are still being investigated. We will continue to update this FAQ in the coming weeks, as Update 9.0 is a major, major update to Squad.


If you have further questions, hop onto our Discord and provide feedback and bug reports! You can join the Squad Community server here.


Now, without further ado, let's get started with Update 9.0's FAQ!


What steps do I need to take before loading up the update?


  • Make sure you update your graphics driver to the latest version.


  • Make sure you update Windows to the latest version.


  • Please clear your cache if you are updating from the UE4 version of Squad to the UE5 update.

How do I clear the cache?


  • We highly recommend that all users updating from the UE4 version of the game to UE5 to clear their cache.


  • To fully clear Squad’s game cache outside of the game, locate INSTALLDRIVE:\\Users\\USERNAME\\AppData\\Local\\SquadGame and delete the ‘Saved’ folder.

I have issues launching the game (or with an infinite load issue). What are some steps I can take to help resolve these issues?


  • Please remove all mods before launching this update for the first time. Some Squad mods have yet to be updated and released for UE5, and if they are still pointing to the UE4 versions, the game will not load.

Does my hardware meet the minimum requirements for this update?


  • Please refer to the updated specs for Update 9.0 on the store page here.

What is the minimum VRAM required to play Squad?


  • The minimum required GPU to play Squad is a GTX 1060 or RX 580 with at least 6GB of VRAM.

Does the UE5 / 9.0 Update support Linux?


  • Squad doesn’t have a native Linux build, but can be played through Proton. The challenge with Proton is anti-cheat. EAC has Linux support, and we do our best to integrate the latest updates as needed. Sometimes, we miss a step there as we don’t usually test on Linux clients, so we appreciate the Linux gaming community reporting any issues. The best place to provide feedback and bug reports is on the Squad Community Discord.

Does the UE5 / 9.0 Update support DX11?


  • No, DX11 is no longer supported in Update 9.0 and onwards because it does not support Shader Model 6, which our new rendering features rely on.

Should I use the same graphics settings I used in UE4 Squad in UE5?


  • Several settings categories have been added, removed or changed with Update 9.0. Almost all of them do things differently to some extent. Visually, “medium” settings in UE5 are better than “epic” was on UE4. The high and epic settings on UE5 are meant to fully utilize the power of modern GPU generations released in the last couple of years. They may be some performance issues with older hardware. The “defaults” button runs a benchmarking algorithm on your GPU to determine sensible defaults for your hardware. This should be used as a starting point.

What are some settings I can tweak to improve performance for my machine?


  • We strongly recommend that you tweak your graphics settings after updating to Update 9.0, as our upgrade from UE4 to UE5 has changed how those settings work. Visually, the “Medium” setting in UE5 provides higher quality than the “Epic” setting on UE4. The "High" and "Epic" settings on UE5 fully utilize the power of the modern GPU generation and are not recommended for previous GPU generations.


  • Please use the “Defaults” button in the Graphics Settings menu as a starting point. It will run a benchmarking algorithm on your current GPU to determine recommended defaults for your hardware. From there, you can tweak your upscaler resolution settings to get better quality vs performance. Finally, you can further tweak settings if desired by lowering demanding settings like Shadows and Global Illumination Quality.

Does the new UE5 update use Lumen?


  • No, we do not currently use Lumen. We use a custom solution that allows us to have a more performant version of Global Illumination, while still meeting the visual goals of the game.

How do I fix textures not loading and/or popping?


  • Textures being temporarily low quality, especially noticeable on VFX for the first time they are playing, is a compromise we have taken for now. A goal with UE5 was to reduce hitching. We found that some hitches were caused by some effects having very high-resolution textures that were getting loaded. We made that loading spread over time and not stall the game anymore. As a result, there is visual degradation in the beginning. This will get resolved as we optimize the VFX.

I’m noticing that there are sometimes long load times on first launch. What is causing this issue?


  • The game now pre-compiles shaders on load to avoid hitching while playing. This is most significant when loading into the first map and won’t be needed after. Shaders are stored locally. They will only get recompiled when the GPU driver gets updated. All regular load times are reduced compared to UE4.

Help! My issue isn’t listed here. Where can I go to report my issue or get support?


  • Please join our Squad Community Discord, and you can provide feedback HERE or bug reports HERE.

Continue reading...
 

Squad 9.0.1 - Patch Notes

Hello Squaddies,


Today we have released the 9.0.1 Hotfix for Squad. Here are the issues that were addressed. We are aware that there are other issues ongoing, and we will continue to work towards resolving those as soon as we can.


System & Gameplay Updates

  • Adjusted some vehicle turrets' minimum depression angle, allowing them to aim farther downwards

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed missing movement sounds for new "jog/walk" left + right animations


  • Reworked AT launcher reloading to address reload bugs, please report any remaining issues


  • Fixed using the Second Tour Pack’s M4/M4A1 Field Mod skin on an M4/M4A1 with an M68 scope attached resulting in a ring in the scope while in ADS


  • Fixed the music player and Infantry Tutorial buttons missing from the Main Menu


  • Fixed unusable scope on CAF HAT's Carl Gustav when using HE rounds


  • Fixed a crash when switching to Low quality mode while using TSR for AA or upscaling


  • Fixed an “array out of bounds” client crash


  • Fixed Skirmish layers allowing players to vote for broken RGF and USA Light Infantry battlegroups


  • Fixed commendation rank increases not immediately showing up on round end scoreboard - an animation will not play to show the rank increase


  • Fixed the right tracks on the CAF M113A3 not animating


  • Fixed clipping into terrain after vaulting onto front tire of a Minsk bike


  • Fixed CRF M1151 wreck using the wrong texture


  • Fixed tracked vehicles playing "gravel" SFX at match start, and occasionally when stopped


  • Fixed AT mine placement ghost sometimes flickering red while trying to place mine


  • Fixed reflex sights being blurry / noisy when using upscaling


  • Fixed various visual issues with reflex sight lenses when looking at smoke, high contrast scenes, or dim scenes


  • Fixed some reflex sights being washed out and hard to see in bright conditions and overly bright in dark conditions


  • Fixed some issues with shadows in picture-in-picture (PiP) scopes


  • Fixed the M1126 M240 Woodland APC allowing weapons with lower penetration than Armor Penetrating rounds (such as autocannon Fragmentation rounds) to damage the vehicle


  • Improved auto exposure behaviour when entering / exiting ADS with a PiP scope


  • Fixed several CRF vehicles using the wrong wreck model / texture


  • Fixed USMC LAT/Medic/Rifleman weapon name not showing up in Deployment Screen


  • Fixed Mi-17 Helicopter becoming invisible when viewed from up close, from specific angles


  • Fixed Lee Enfield Iron Sight Bolt Action Rifle zeroing not being correct for 200m, 300m, 400m


  • Removed the Sapper role commendation. All Sapper commendations now count toward the Engineer


  • Fixed the GFI UH-1H Helicopter having the wrong wreck texture


  • Fixed GFI's M1151 variants showing the USA/USMC wreck when destroyed


  • Fixed GFI soldier berets, helmets and rally points showing the old MEA logo


  • Fixed BAF LPPV RWS + FV432 L37A2 RWS gunners missing some reticle elements when zoomed in


  • Fixed some hitbox issues on M1A1 and M1A2 MBT tracks


  • Fixed the GFI Combined Arms battlegroup having 2 BMP-2 spawns rather than 1, as intended


  • Fixed Minsk bikes being pushed too far when using the "push" functionality (under vehicle reset), and Quad bikes missing this functionality


  • Fixed vehicles that can fire multiple ATGMs as part of one “magazine” (eg. Spandrel, ZBL08) only being able to resupply their ATGM ammunition when all shots have been fired; can now resupply ATGM ammunition regardless of number of shots left


  • Fixed USMC Light Infantry SL having no weapon name on the deployment screen


  • Fixed a bug where the WPMC M1117, CPV, and modern technical showed broken textures when using 'dark black' vehicle paint


  • Fixed CAF LUV A1 Transport and Logi vehicles missing the “push” functionality


  • Fixed PLANMC Raider having the wrong weapon icon on Deployment Screen


  • Fixed CAF LAV C6 RWS Desert variant using wrong hull decoration


  • Fixed cables clipping windshield on the Simir car


  • Fixed commendation ranks displaying incorrectly in Chinese and French


  • Fixed multiple translation issues


  • Fixed some vehicle turrets being able to damage their own vehicle

Map Updates & Bug Fixes

Anvil



  • Fixed an exploitable wall section

Al Basrah


  • Seed v2 - Added bots to seeding layer

Chora


  • Fixed landscape filling in under bridges

Fallujah


  • Skirmish v1 + v2 - Fixed a bug where the main bases for both teams were missing ammo crates

Goose Bay


  • Fixed the underwater effect appearing on land in certain locations


  • Frozen lakes on the map now show proper reflection captures

Harju


  • Fixed missing grass tiles and broken collision on certain types of trees

Known Issues

  • Missing tint on PiP scopes

Continue reading...
 

Letter from the Squad Leader - August 2025

Hello Squaddies,


September is upon us, which means 9.0 is coming very soon. I’m back with a few updates, a sneak peek, and something exciting we’ve been working on.


SQ-SITREP.

Let's talk about 9.0. Over the past months, many of you joined our playtests, shared feedback, and helped us shape this release. Thanks to your efforts, 9.0 has become the most thoroughly tested update in Squad's history. Together, we've uncovered and resolved long-standing issues and strengthened the game's foundation during this huge engine upgrade milestone.


We know there will always be more to refine and improve, but our goal is to give you 9.0 imminently so everyone can finally experience the game we're building together.

We're excited to get it in your hands, establish a new solid baseline for Squad, and continue shaping the game for the future.

Here's what you'll find added into 9.0:


  • Commendations system


  • Ground Forces of Iran


  • Unreal 5.5 integration (with a lot of performance optimization work)

Looking beyond launch, we're excited to share that we will start prototyping the new Territory Control Rework soon and hope to start playtesting it early next year. More progress on UX updates continues as well. For 9.0, there will be some Main Menu updates, and for 10.0 later this year, we plan to improve the Store / Customization pages. The party system is also well underway.


607e8350bdfc040897ba214d94a36a3a184866fc.png


BATTLEFIELD BRIEFING.

Before I wrap up, I want to talk about something that isn’t yet on the showcase. A brand new co-op PvE gamemode we have been working on.

It was conceptualized and prototyped at Offworld's 2024 Company Summit. We give our teams a week to prototype bold ideas or work on things they might not normally have time to–a week of innovation and exploration.

A small team created a PvE mission in Fallujah. The objective was to destroy three ammo caches in a compound with one Squad against AI bots.


We discovered something special - a familiar Squad experience with teamwork, tension, and tactical play - without the head-to-head pressure of PvP.


It opened the door to something new: a way to expand Squad, while staying true to its core.


PvE has the potential to:


  • Provide a different experience for players who enjoy the Squad's teamwork but prefer PvE play over PvP.


  • Create opportunities for modders and mission makers to expand scenarios in fresh directions.


  • Welcome new players into Squad in a more approachable way.


This mode is different from our traditional 50v50 PvP, and we believe the best way to shape it is together with you. So stay tuned for public playtests, devblogs, and more detailed information.

To finish off, here are some screenshots from the Eastern European Biome rework. It’s coming along quite nicely!


60567d17c8f88aefd8fa9510621a4eb75303cce6.gif
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e4f8aa518130c5ac9da02bd587b565dd51dc489b.jpg

Thanks, Squaddies!


- Howitzer

Continue reading...
 

Server Browser Spoofing Update - August 2025

Hello Squaddies,


We’d like to take a moment to address an issue with the server browser that many of you saw over the weekend.

We've been monitoring this spoofing issue for some time. While our original plan was to address it after the release of 9.0, recent events made it clear that we need to act sooner. Work on 9.0 continues, but we've also shifted resources to work closely with the community to deliver a fix for this problem in the next update.

We will also be posting August’s Letter from the Squad Leader later this week giving some more general updates.

See you in the next one!


Thanks, Squaddies!


\[O] Howitzer

Continue reading...
 

Celebrating Offworld's 10th Anniversary

“Attention Squadies, announcement incoming!”

Listen up, Squaddies. Offworld's hit the big 1-0 and is celebrating with a publisher sale from July 31st to August 3rd. Get Squad, Squad 44, Starship Troopers: Extermination, and Beyond the Wire for 50% off. That's right, all of Offworld's titles are 50% off to celebrate our 10th Anniversary!

b44156ffdac1a2c0168fffa2ae03f015af614e2f.png


This is a big year for Squad, as we are working towards moving the game into Unreal Engine 5. Read the latest Letter From The Squad Leader HERE, and join the Squad Discord to discuss all things Squad.

Offworld Out.

───

https://store.steampowered.com/app/393380/Squad/

Continue reading...
 

LETTER FROM THE SQUAD LEADER - July 2025

Hello Squaddies,


July is almost over! This time around, I have a SITREP and a Battlefield Briefing. We’ll cover a lot, and I’m excited to expand these letters over time.

SQ-SITREP.

Following feedback from the "final" 9.0 Unreal Engine 5 playtest, I released an update last week outlining our plan to revise release timelines. In this Letter from the Squad Leader (LFTSL), I will cover where we are at with that and the general plan.

Including v9.0, we had 4+ releases planned for this year, yet we have only released one hotfix. July is almost over, and as always, the end of the year will be upon us sooner than we think. Now that we are rethinking the 9.0 timeline, what does this mean for the releases later this year? We have merged some of the smaller updates we had planned after 9.0, leaving us with two major releases before the end of the year, with v9.0 and v10.0. Each contains large pieces of content, features, and improvements. This new plan gives the team two solid releases to focus on and allows some room between v9.0 and v10.0 if we need to hotfix.

All this shifting around will give us a few more opportunities for Public Tests with Unreal Engine 5, allowing us time to iron out the creases with this engine update. We will keep everyone updated on timelines in the next LFTSL in August.

SQ-BATTLEFIELD BRIEFING.

So… In the last Letter, I mentioned I’d touch a bit more on other things we have in development outside Unreal Engine 5 and v9.0. There have been several public-facing roadmaps in Squads' history, and we’d like to try something like this again, with a few changes.

External factors change roadmaps all the time (like what just happened with v9.0), so rather than a concrete roadmap with dates and months, we will be presenting more of a “development showcase” (shoutout to Discord member IBIS for the suggestion). The “Next Update” section, believe it or not, will cover things coming in the next update! These are things we are more certain of showing up in the next update. The middle section, “In Progress”, will cover things we are actively working on, but we will not cover what release they are planned for, as that might change over time. The final section, "Planning," outlines concepts, with most currently in the early planning & testing stage. The items in this section are generally long-term plans and are not slated for the near future.


We will provide periodic updates and discussions regarding the showcase as its contents become more definite or items are added or removed.

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With an overview of the showcase complete, let's delve into some specific items. Ukraine's active player base is tied for the third and fourth largest. So, I’d like to announce that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will join Squads' lineup of factions later this year! Our Worlds team has also been working on updating and remastering our Eastern European Biome assets. This includes things like foliage, props, and buildings for that biome.


AD_4nXcCFV863pFN0JpT6-1k1Ln3wZYVCNGryUJCCCKSlRi-sim2bAr50I-IFf1sbVyqhTJ0wbDBWvQ5i3jtHoW3M_M3gk_QiN3ErKTh_jyHDQ7WUjB3M96mVBgT4fLgSZ-OY47kdLekiQ
AD_4nXfvnLs-gdaG5pL0p96nXk-QtV7vz_hUWDv27D9dclJko0kkG9sgVO2wYswaxf_G4Mqeu71jbAYq4bqVRQ76xXfzkk1u1n_4f6CI3LJb0YFarfsLdweX3XEKq6tSbd40nrpBSrvsYw
AD_4nXel6vqxDe9UOsNswVYhrh0eoVwGCog_8Wq6HddreZB4fr4Yyf3BFAVTZRX8_TP4g_Kt4pPNApZz2nKkTXFVaCKQ2rh0TeXCSezqD5EtMrAQJVk4s6yk7AUn_hDs9_dAR7drmj0h


Another item on the showcase is Commendations. This feature is very close to being finished. The Commendations system is a socially-driven progression system in which players gain the ability to give a 'commendation' to another player, giving them agency to recognize them for being good at playing their role, or being a good leader, teacher, or teammate.

As players receive commendations, they will progress down a track relevant to the type of commendation they've received, allowing them to unlock better versions of the commendation icons.

This icon will appear next to their name on in-game scoreboards, in-game HUDs, and anywhere that a role icon would normally appear. We will harness these icons as part of the first-time user experience and encourage newer players to seek out experienced players who other players have recognized as good leaders or teachers to mitigate the possibility of having a negative first-time experience in the game.

AD_4nXddFu7PWNRiWjbLU2EIj1Jg02l9o-_WwYzMpy5lO2mknjQdv16v4LJvoOPA5F6gvmwUS9pZtB8al7rBqHRvEayez1nsHQ6red0SdR4qXbVLMqt-BOFez8YpuM1WFOGxWQpbJ6K3hA


So that wraps up this LFTSL. We’re all excited to start talking more about what we are working on and showing off things when possible. Expect to see more pretty much every month going forward.

See you in the next one!

\[O] Howitzer

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Squad UE5 - A message from [O] Howitzer

Hello Squaddies,


As some of you may know, we just finished up what we initially believed would be our final 9.0 Unreal 5 public playtest. Based on earlier results and performance improvements, it felt like a strong candidate for release. However, the transition from 5.3 to 5.5 uncovered new challenges that hadn’t appeared in previous tests. We’ve since taken time to review a lot of valuable feedback from the community, and it’s clear there are still areas to improve. As a result, we have decided to regroup and rethink our plans for the 9.0 release.


So, what happens now? We are actively assessing and planning our next steps for 9.0 and how its release impacts the rest of the year. We will be posting another Letter from the Squad Leader mid next week to give everyone a general update on where we landed and what to expect.


I wanted to thank everyone for giving their honest and open feedback. Your input continues to shape the path forward and is deeply valued by the entire team. Thank you for continuing to support us through this transition to Unreal 5.

Like I mentioned before, expect to see more information about our next steps next week. Closed playtesting will continue to take place (More info here http://discord.gg/testsquad) as well as more “final final” public playtests. ;)

Thanks, Squaddies!

\[O] Howitzer

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Unreal Engine 5 - Public Playtest #5 - The Final Playtest!

Listen up, Squaddies!

Unreal Engine 5 Public Playtest #5 is coming this Friday, July 11th 11:00am PDT!

THIS WILL BE OUR FINAL PUBLIC TEST FOR UNREAL ENGINE 5.

Here’s what to expect:

You will need to download a special Playtesting Branch of Squad, that has already been released, with access to Servers on Friday around 11am PDT. There will be multiple servers being hosted by Community names that you will know and recognize! Feel free to play wherever you like, but servers will open and close to accommodate the population needs! The general public will not be given access to the Server hosting branch for testing. There is a special Squad Testing Discord that is open to the public. Please be aware that all the normal Squad Community server rules apply in this server as well. Please refer to the onboarding channels for help if you need it!

We have included some known issues in this post, but anything that you come up against can be reported in the previously mentioned Discord Server for testing. Testing will run over the weekend and end on Monday July 14th 11:00AM PDT, and then the UE5 Servers will be taken down. We are also hoping you can take the time to fill out a survey for us, answering some questions about your experience during testing. This will be available IN GAME, in the News Box on the main menu. We will send out a reminder of this later on as well, as it will be accessible through Discord too.

The Important Stuff


In place of a change log this week, we have some information to update you on regarding PiP (Picture in Picture) scopes, from \[O] Norby!


"We have a new implementation for the pip scopes. Why is the pip rendering such a big challenge? For high magnification optics like in Squad we need to render two scenes for the different magnification levels. Rendering creates load on the CPU, which is issuing the render commands and on the GPU. In the worst case it cuts the frame rate in half.

Our goal is to have the same frame rate in pip mode as outside of pip. For that we need to address both bottlenecks. For the GPU the most efficient way to gain performance is rendering less pixels. We can do that for the outside scene, since there is a blur effect applied anyway.

For the render thread we have the benefit that we're always looking in the same direction with both views. This allows us to do optimizations similar to VR to reuse resources for both views.

The biggest challenge with this is handling the transition of render states smoothly. We pre-allocate resources when kits are switched and are spreading some of the transitions over multiple frames to reduce hitching."

-Norby


We did add a bunch of fixes that came in since the last playtest, but we will be saving those for the Patch Notes of the 9.0 release, once it arrives. We are aware of a few persisting bugs, including some hitching during ADS animations, some black frames inside PiP scopes, and an issue where a portion of the PiP screen can get duplicated.


Join the discussion in Discord, and we hope to see you over the weekend!


OFFWORLD OUT

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Squad v8.2.3 Hotfix

ATTN Squaddies!,


Today we are releasing a Hotfix for both Player facing and Server side. This update is intending on resolving a PING issue that Servers were experiencing that caused servers to seem like they had a ping of 9999! You will need to update your game in order to play. That's all for today! Stay tuned for more news on the UE5 release in the coming weeks!


https://store.steampowered.com/app/393380/Squad/

OFFWORLD OUT!

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Pick up Squad for 60% off and load up some HEAT rounds!

“We've intercepted new transmissions. Ready to receive!”

Listen up Squaddies. The Steam Summer Sale is here! From June 26th - 10 AM PT (GMT-7) until July 10th - 10 AM PT (GMT-7), save 60% off on Squad! Now is a great time to join Squad, as we are currently working towards our most significant update yet, moving Squad to Unreal Engine 5!

34c9618a2663f122fcd3a17d4185083dbbfaa9d5.png


Check out our upcoming UE5 Update Devblog HERE, and join the Squad Discord to discuss all things Squad.

Offworld Out.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/393380/Squad/

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Letter From The Squad Leader - June 2025

Hello Squaddies,


Howtizer here. We released a few “Letter from the Squad Leader” posts last year but I haven’t done one in a while. It’s also something that I did for the newsletter, I will now make this its own blog post the whole community gets access to instead of it trickling out through the newsletter. It will be semi-regular (once a month or two) to keep you, the community, up to date with everything that’s going on on the Squad team.

Usually I’d split things out into 2 segments, the "Sitrep," focusing on short-term plans, and the "Battlefield Briefing," focusing on medium to long-term plans, but for now I will skip the Battlefield Briefing to cover the Sitrep in more detail.

SQ-SITREP.


Where we are at…

We’re still working on UE5. Surprise!! As most of you already know, we are hard at work upgrading Squad to Unreal Engine 5. A lot of the team have been working on this for a long time, some since the last engine upgrade (4.27) we did 2 years ago, but most of the team shifted focus toward the end of last year, which is why you haven’t seen an update in a while. All the sub teams on Squad have had their hands in this Engine upgrade, as well as many people outside the Squad team at Offworld. It’s been a whole company effort.


4 open playtests have taken place over the last 2 months, and countless other closed tests before then and we are reaching that point where we feel confident in releasing it soon to gather feedback from the entire playerbase and move onto other things we have in our plans (more information on that in a future post). We want to make sure we deliver a solid engine update that improves most peoples experiences, and sets up Squad for another 10 years of development and kick ass content. So in the next section, I’ll talk about what to expect over the next month or so.

eabd9181cba5a1209ba0d6b49f1d407a8bc4ef00.png


What to expect in the next few months…

There will be a few more public tests of Unreal 5 to help us test a few more improvements we’d like to make, as well as the release of the Mod SDK leaving modders some time to update their mods to Unreal 5. Some of this work includes more optimization efforts for PiP scopes, server performance improvements, and some serious testing of Unreal Engine 5.5 (5.5 has a lot of refinements from Epic that will help lower end PC Performance).


That’s all for now… In the next letter, we will cover a bit more about some of the challenges we have faced upgrading to Unreal 5 and talk about some future roadmap items… It’s been a long journey, but we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are aiming to release v9.0 Summer 2025. We will not be releasing before the Steam Summer Sale. So expect to see v9.0 at some point after that.


Thanks, Squaddies!


- Howitzer

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