After Microsoft leaked word of a new Star Wars game on its official Xbox site on Friday, publisher Electronic Arts shared details about just what to expect Monday.
The new title, called Star Wars: Squadrons, is a first-person space-based dogfighting game, that will allow players to fight from the cockpits of starfighters representing both the New Republic and Imperial, EA said in a statement on Monday. Motive Studios, which worked on Star Wars: Battlefront II, developed Star Wars: Squadrons. EA said it will launch on October 2 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. It’ll also come with virtual reality support on the PlayStation 4 and PC, though EA did not say if the game will be available on the upcoming PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X consoles. However, the game will come with crossplay support, so gamers can play with people on other consoles.
EA said in a statement that the game will feature a single-player campaign “set during the final days of the Galactic Empire and the rise of the New Republic after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.”
More specifically, EA said the campaign will pick up after the Battle of Endor and the Rebel Alliance taking down the Death Star II. The campaign will require players to suit up as one pilot in the New Republic’s Vanguard Squadron and another in the Galactic Empire’s Titan Squadron. EA also promised “some cameos from familiar faces in the Star Wars galaxy.”
On the multiplayer front, EA promises a dogfighting mode where players will take each other on in different areas of the galaxy. The game will also feature a fleet battle mode where teams of players will need to work together to take down an opposing “flagship.”
The company also said players will be able to acquire upgraded weapons, starfighter hulls, and other customizations that are “earned solely through gameplay.” That may satisfy Battlefront II players who were outraged over EA’s handling of progression systems and loot boxes and its initial desire to make microtransactions a central component in the gameplay experience.
Star Wars: Squadrons is available now for pre-order and will cost $40 when it hits store shelves later this year. EA said it will share more details on the game, including actual gameplay footage, at its EA Play Live livestream at 4 p.m. PT on Thursday.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.