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Star Wars: Squadrons to support HOTAS controls on PC

The creative director of Star Wars: Squadrons has confirmed joystick and throttle peripheral support will be available on the PC version of the game.

TJ Denzer

June 17, 2020 10:29 AM

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With the announcement of Star Wars: Squadrons comes all sorts of questions. Though the game promises 5v5 spaceflight dog fights using the iconic Star Wars franchise, we have little to go by outside of the cinematic trailer. That said, some questions are being answered little by little, one of which regards controls. Squadrons’ creative director recently proudly announced that the game would see HOTAS (hands-on throttle-and-stick) peripheral support on its PC edition.

Star Wars: Squadrons Creative Director Ian S. Frazier answered the matter of joystick support from his personal Twitter on June 15, 2020. When questioned on the matter, Frazier was initially cagey about what he could and could not reveal, but he eventually let players know that Squadrons’ on PC would feature full joystick support, including HOTAS rig set-ups. Unfortunately, there was no world on similar support for consoles at this time, but it’s good to know that at least PC players will be able to enjoy a full-blown space flight sim experience if you have the peripherals for it.

Well hey, double checked and apparently I AM allowed to tell you that without being tackled by PR!

Yes, we fully support joystick on PC, including full HOTAS rigs with a throttle. :)

— Ian S. Frazier (@tibermoon) June 16, 2020

Star Wars: Squadrons promises to be an incredible new experience in the Star Wars universe. Where many recent Star Wars game have used ship combat as a bit of a sideshow to the main experience, Squadrons is going to be leaning hard into a full-on and fleshed out X-wing vs TIE Fighter experience this coming October 2020. What’s more, it will feature 5v5 competitive play. We could legitimately be looking at the possibility of a Star Wars flight combat esport, which just sounds like it could be delightful if done right.

With everything in place for launch on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 2, 2020, it’s great to hear that PC will be getting HOTAS support. In addition to the VR support, playing on PC with joystick and throttle might just be the way to experience Star Wars: Squadrons, barring an as-of-yet unconfirmed launch on next-gen consoles PS5 and Xbox Series X.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.