How to play online with friends in Star Wars: Squadrons

Star Wars: Squadrons multiplayer lets you take part in epic and space battles alongside your friends. You can party with up to four of your friends, but the only way to do that is to use online co-op, as local multiplayer is not supported.

Before you jump into your cockpit, you'll need to know how to play online with friends. Here's how you can form a party, join an ongoing match, and add cross-play friends to your squad.

How to form a squad

To invite your friends to a game you're hosting, press Tab on PC, the trackpad on your PlayStation 4 controller, or the Select button on Xbox One. This brings up the Social menu. Scroll through your friends list, and when you want to invite someone, choose the “Invite” option next to their username.

Your friends can accept this invitation and join your ranks. Once everyone is there, you can open the Multiplayer menu and select a game mode to participate in.

How to join a match in progress

This is only possible if a friend is participating in unclassified air combat or AI fleet battles. You cannot join a ranked game that has already started, or if an unranked game does not have slots available for you.

To join an unranked game in progress with available slots, open the Social menu. Scroll down to the friend who is playing a game you want to participate in and select the "Join Game" option.

To invite a friend to an unrated game you're in, open the Loadout menu. Scroll down to an empty space on your team, select the Social menu when clicked, then invite them.

How to invite cross-play friends

Star Wars: Squadrons has cross-platform support, so you can play with your friends even if they have it on a different system. To add them to your list, you'll need to send them a friend request.

The first way to do it is to play with people in matches. If you want to add someone you've met in a game, select their name in the dashboard. Click “View Profile”, then choose “Add to EA Friends”. They can accept your request from the Social menu by looking at the invitations, then "Pending friend requests".

To add someone who is not in your match, you will need their EA ID. This ID is the name of their EA Play account, which they should have linked to during their first EA game. Open the Social menu, then Invitations, and enter their ID in "Find an EA ID". This sends them a friend request, which they can accept.