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!

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.

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.

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

• 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

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

• Missing tint on PiP scopes

It’s been a while, but today we are bringing you our Squad 9.0 Patch Notes, with our engine migration to Unreal Engine 5. It has been a long time since we started work on this, and we would like to thank each and every one of you who joined us in that testing. We would not have been able to do this without you. And a very special thank you to our Community Server Owners who joined in along the way to lend us their server space and hardware. 

So let’s get down to business, shall we?

Squad has officially transitioned to Unreal Engine 5.5. This upgrade marks a major step forward, and while it was a significant undertaking, it was a necessary one. This change to the latest technology is what will allow us to ensure Squad can thrive for the next decade.

Big ticket items we started to utilize are Nanite and some of the new frame generation technologies. All of these in combination will help us to achieve a more consistent visual look across different settings. We have also implemented Unreal 5’s new physics engine, Chaos Physics, and the new audio engine, Metasounds, helping us reach a new foundation level of these two systems, opening up a lot more opportunities for vehicles and au,dio in the future.

UE5 has enabled us to fix some legacy UE4 issues (like bad frame pacing), and has also introduced better tooling for creation and optimization, allowing us to produce content like maps more quickly and at higher fidelity.

We’ll continue to make the most of UE5 in future updates.

We're thrilled to launch our newly designed Al-Basrah with 9.0. This is the first new level we've built from the ground up in UE5, and it’s been an amazing learning experience for the team as we explored the latest engine’s new rendering tech and worldbuilding tools.

This new version is a reimagining of the classic Project Reality and Squad maps, featuring an expanded playable area with greater density and visual fidelity throughout the city. The airport has been overhauled and several other areas have received much-needed updates as well.

Gameplay layers for Al Basrah included in 9.0 release:

• AAS v1

• AAS v2

• RAAS v1

• RAAS v2

• Invasion v1

• Invasion v2

• Invasion v3

• Seed v1

• Seed v2

• Skirmish v1

• Skirmish v2

• Skirmish v3

All maps have undergone a lighting overhaul. We're now using a new Global Illumination system that ensures greater consistency across all levels.

This new lighting system lays the foundation for expanded lighting and weather features in the future, enabling us to create even more believable and immersive worlds.

We've also made extensive updates to our existing maps to ensure compatibility with UE5 and improve performance. These changes include asset and material adjustments, as well as reworking foliage on several maps.

Performance has been a major focus for us. Unfortunately, some of our older maps don’t fully align with these practices, as they were originally optimized for what worked best in the previous version of UE4.

While we've worked hard to bring performance to an acceptable level across all maps, further improvements are planned in upcoming updates. Our goal is to deliver both higher visual quality and smooth gameplay, while maintaining enjoyable performance even on older or lower-end hardware.

There are some more specific changes to Maps further down the Patch Notes. 

A new Commendation System has been added to Squad, giving players a way to recognize and reward positive teamwork at the end of each round. Commendations can highlight strong leadership, helpful teaching, or solid role performance, and earning them will build up visible ranks over time. This system not only gives players a way to show their experience, but also helps newer players connect with those who have proven to be reliable squadmates.

• Goals

  • Encourage communication, cooperation, and reward positive social interaction.

  • Provide a way to identify experienced players who are proven to be helpful for teaching newer players.

  • Be able to leverage this for FTUE flow when it comes to joining a squad & spawning in.

  • Provide a way for players to display how experienced at the game they are.

• How does it work?

  • Players will earn commendation tokens to give out as they play a round of gameplay on licensed servers up to a maximum of 2 commendations. The first commendation is earned after 10 minutes in a round, and the second is earned after 25 minutes in a round.

  • A notification appears when a player has earned a commendation but this notification can be disabled in game settings.

  • Players will be able to award commendations to other players at the end of the round on the after-action report screen

  • You can only award one commendation to one player at a time (ex: if you have 2 commendations to give out, you can't give them both to the same player)

  • If you do not give out commendations before the start of the next round, they will be lost. These do not carry over between rounds of gameplay.

  • We will not allow players to give these out during the round of gameplay to keep players focused and immersed in gameplay and not navigating interfaces more than they already are

  • When awarding a commendation to a player, you will have several different types to choose from. You can commend the player for the specific role that they had at the time the round of gameplay ended (ex: medic, pilot, etc) or you can give them a special commendation for Leadership, Teacher, or Teamwork. These special commendations are intended to cover behaviors that aren't necessarily tied to playing a particular role (i.e. driving logis, transporting troops, teaching new players, keeping the squad together, etc)

  • As you earn commendations for different roles or the special category, you will progress up different ranks for each. Your rank for a particular role is always displayed by default next to your role icon, or you can optionally choose to display a special commendation to replace that if you choose. 

  • There is a “Career” screen where you can check your progress towards commendation ranks, where you choose if you want to display a special commendation; we expect the current progression for commendation ranks to have a very long tail (~2 years estimation), but we can’t wait to see how you use them on a grand scale.

  • Additional roles have been added to several factions to ensure that certain role types that players can earn commendations for are available across a wider variety of factions.

We’ve made some changes to the Irregular Militia faction:

• Large role reconfiguration similar to what we did with Middle Eastern Insurgents in 8.2, these updates are a staged rollout bringing IMF closer to representing a Russian proxy militia.

  • SL 01 - AK-74

  • SL 02 - AKS-74U

  • SL 03 - AK-12 + 1P87

  • SL 04 - AK-101 + EXPS

  • SL 05 - AKS-74 + 1P78

  • SL 06 - AS-VAL + OKP-7

  • SL 07 - AK-74 + GP25 + 1P63

  • Medic 01 - AKS-74U

  • Medic 02 - AKS-74 + 1P29

  • Rifleman 01 - Mosin Nagant

  • Rifleman 02 - SKS

  • Rifleman 03 - AKM

  • Rifleman 04 - AK-74

  • Rifleman 05 - AKS-74 + 1P63

  • Rifleman 06 - AK-12 + 1P87

  • Rifleman 07 - AK-101 + M150

  • Rifleman 08 - AK-74M + 1P78

  • Automatic Rifleman 01 - RPD

  • Automatic Rifleman 02 - RPK-74

  • Automatic Rifleman 03 - RPK-74 + 1P78

  • Scout 01 - Mosin Sniper & Portable Quad Drone

  • Raider 01 - AS VAL & 3x RKG3

  • Raider 02 - AKS-74U + 45rd Magazine & 3x RKG3

  • Grenadier 01 - AKM + GP25

  • Grenadier 02 - AK-74 + GP25 + 1P63

  • Grenadier 03 - AKS-74U & 5x RPG-7 Fragmentation

  • LAT 01 - AKS-74U & 2x RPG-7V2 Fragmentation & 2x RPG-7V2 HEAT

  • LAT 02 - AKS-74 + 1P63 & RPG-26 & 2x RKG3

  • LAT 03 - AKS-74 + 1P29 & 2x RPG-7 HEAT

  • Marksman 01 - VSS

  • Marksman 02 - SVD

  • Machinegunner 01 - PKM

  • Machinegunner 02 - PKM + 1P29

  • HAT 01 - AKS-74 & 2x RPG-7 Tandem & 2x RPG-7 Fragmentation

  • HAT 02 - AKS-74 + 1P63 & 2x RPG-29 Tandem

  • Sapper 01 - AK-74

  • Sniper 01 - SV-98M

• New Vehicle: The T72A tank 

  • This is a modification of the T-72S tank used by the GFI faction. This is a meaningful change for the IMF as this will give them access to a more modern main battle tank, compared to the older T-62. This tank will have weaker armor than the more modern T-72S and T-72B3 with a maximum of 500mm frontal turret armor, and 180mm frontal hull armor, but will retain similar firepower.

    

• New weapon: VSS “Vintorez”

  • A compact rifle with integrated suppressor, similar to the AS-VAL currently in-game. The rifle has semi-automatic and fully automatic fire selection with a wood skeleton stock, the main difference is that this rifle comes with a magnified PSO-1 scope. This weapon is also available for the VDV.

    

• New Equipment: Recon Drone

  • This is a smaller, portable version of the quad drone that some factions’ commanders can deploy. Explosives cannot be attached to it, but it will appear on the Scout role for use in reconnoiting enemy positions for their squad and team. They can be shot down, however, and have a high ammo cost to rearm.

• MEA has been converted to the Ground Forces of Iran (GFI). This includes an overhaul of roles.

• Character, vehicle, and 2D textures have been updated

• GFI receives M1151 on their 64th Infantry Division (Light Infantry) Battlegroup captured from Afghan forces in border skirmishes

• GFI makes use of the UH-1H helicopter, which replaces the Mi-17; this is intended to be reintroduced as an Mi-8 later as part of another Iran-based faction.

  • The TLF no longer uses the UH-1H and uses the UH-60 exclusively.

• This is a new minor faction that represents an irregular, independent faction for the North American biome. This faction is only available on Goose Bay and Manicouagan map layers.

• Makes use of a mix of civilian and captured military equipment

• New Weapons include:

  • SKS Tazco - a civilian-upgraded SKS with a 20-round magazine

  • M1 Carbine - a WW2 relic with exceptional handling characteristics

  • Lee Enfield No. 4 Mk. 1 - a WW2 bolt-action rifle, with iron sights and marksman configurations

  • G17 + Extended Magazine - A G17 pistol with a 32-round magazine

  • G18 - A G17 converted into fully automatic with a 32-round magazine

  • Bangerite IED - An IED that is placed and then must be shot to detonate

• Squad Leader roles carry up to three rallies with a cheap 30-ammo rearm

• Makes use of a scout role in the ‘specialist’ role class with a portable reconnaissance drone. These portable drones have a 4 minute battery life compared to the 10 minutes that the commander quad drone has.

• Lacks wider access to grenades and fully-automatic weapons compared to other factions

We’ve made additional changes to several factions:

Australian Defence Force (ADF)

• Added additional SL role with EF88 with iron sights

• Added additional rifleman role with EF88 with iron sights

• Added raider role with EF88C + ET552 optic and 4x frag grenades

• Added additional MMG role with Mag 58

• Added additional MMG role with Maximi with iron sights

• Added additional MMG role with Maximi with ET552 optic"

• Mechanized Battlegroup - Reduced the number of ASLAV IFV available from 4 to 3

• Renamed the M72A7 to the M72 SRAAW (Short-Range Anti-Armor Weapon) and gave it a new projectile with lower penetration (300mm from 320mm) but a larger blast radius (4.0m from 3.2m) for enhanced realism

• Renamed the M3 MAAWS to the M3 MDFSW (Medium Direct Fire Support Weapon) to reflect real world naming conventions

British Armed Forces (BAF)

• ⭐ Added a “Pathfinder” role: 

BAF Air Assault (2 Para) - Uses the L119A1 (British designation for the C8A3) + ET552 + Foregrip, L131A1 pistol, 3x grenades

Pathfinder roles are raider roles similar to the TLF’s Jandarma role. These roles focus on close quarters, having access to fully automatic weapons, pistols and more hand grenades than other roles on their team. “Special Characteristic” text will indicate that the battlegroup has access to the pathfinder role on voting screens. Also available at the BAF Jensens Range Training Area.

• Additional L85A2 rifle variants introduced to the SL and rifleman roles. This includes variants with iron sights and variants with the M150 magnified optic

• Renamed the AT-4 CS to the L2A1 ILAW

• Renamed the M72A7 to the L72A9 LASM (Light Anti-Structure Munition) and gave it a new projectile with lower penetration (300mm from 320mm) and larger blast radius (3.2m to 4.0m) for enhanced realism.

Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)

• ⭐ Added a “Pathfinder” role: 

CAF Air Assault (3 RCR) - Uses the C8A3 + ET552 + Foregrip, Hi Power pistol, 3x grenades

• Iron sight variants of rifles re-introduced to multiple roles

• Reduced the overall number of frag grenades available to roles

• Renamed the M72A7 to the M72A5-C1 and gave it a new projectile with higher penetration (320mm to 350mm) for enhanced authenticity.

• Renamed the C14 Timberwolf to the C14 MRSWS

• Replaced 1x CH-146 with 1x CH-146 CAS (equipped with GAU-21 .50 cal and Minigun door guns) on 3 RCR (Air Assault) Battlegroup

• Upgraded the visuals of the TAPV interior

People’s Liberation Army (PLA) & People’s Liberation Army Amphibious Ground Forces (PLAAGF)

• Added additional grenadier role with QBZ-95-1 with iron sights + QLG-10 UGL

• Added additional MMG role with QJY-88 with iron sights

• Updated HAT 01 to use QSZ-92 pistol as primary weapon, but with 2x Tandem and 2x HE PF-98 rounds

• Updated HAT 02 to use QBZ-95B-1 as primary, but with only 1x Tandem PF-98 round"

People’s Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps (PLANMC)

• Added raider role with QBZ-95B-1, QSZ-92 pistol, and frag grenades

• Added additional grenadier role with QBZ-95-1 with iron sights + QLG-10 UGL

• Added additional MMG role with QJY-88 with iron sights

Russian Airborne Forces (VDV)

• Added additional SL role with AS-VAL + OKP-7

• Added additional rifleman role with AK-74

• Added raider role with AS-VAL + OKP-7 and 5x frag grenades

• Made marksman role with AS-VAL + PSO available to all battlegroups

• Added additional marksman role with VSS + PSO

• Added additional marksman role with SVD

• Moved scout to ‘specialist’ role category, equipped with hand-held quad drone, max 2 per team"

Russian Ground Forces (RGF)

• Added Raider role with AKS-74U + Extended Mag and 5x frag grenades

• Added additional marksman role in ‘direct combat’ role category using SVD

• Added additional grenadier role with AK-74M + 1P63 optic w/ GP-25

• Added additional MMG role with PKP with iron sights

• Added a scout role in ‘specialist’ role category with AK-74M and portable quad-drone, limit 2 per team"

Turkish Land Forces (TLF)

• Added additional SL role with G3A7

• Added additional grenadier role with iron sight MPT-76 + AK40 UGL

• Moved the MGL grenadier role to ‘specialist’ role as ‘heavy grenadier’ with a limit of 2 per team

• Added additional marksman role with G3 SG/1

• Added additional rifleman role with G3A7

• Added additional MMG role with iron sight PMT-76

• Replaced the UH-1H with the UH60 on all battlegroups

• Reduced the number of M60T MBT available from 2 to 1 (except for the Armored Battlegroup, which will continue to have 3)

United States Army (USA)

• ⭐ Added a “Pathfinder” role: 

USA Air Assault (82nd Airborne) &  USA Light Infantry (10th Mountain) - Uses the M4A1 + M68 + Foregrip, M17 pistol, 3x grenades

United States Marine Corps (USMC)

• Updated 4th Marines Amphibious Ready Group (Amphibious Assault Battlegroup) to use modern role loadouts with M27 IARs

• Added additional rifleman role with M27 IAR with iron sights to M27-equipped battlegroups

• Added additional grenadier role with M27 IAR with iron sights to M27-equipped battlegroups

• Added additional LAT role with M27 IAR with iron sights to M27-equipped battlegroups

• Added additional MMG role with iron sight M240

• Added additional HAT role with M27 IAR with iron sights and SMAW to M27-equipped battlegroups

• Updated SL01 to use M4 w/ M203

• Added additional SL role with M27 IAR with iron sights to M27-equipped battlegroups

• Added additional SL role with M16A4 w/ M203 to M27-equipped battlegroups

• Motorized Battlegroup - Reduced the number of LAV-25 IFV available from 4 to 3

• Goals

  • Make recoil feel more natural, less random, and less intense without detracting from our intent to have extended firefights within gameplay

  • Make engagements below 150 meters feel less frustrating

  • Mitigate the problem of losing the front sight post from the front of the weapon moving down during recoil

• Changes

  • Reduced the overall intensity of the aim punch received from suppression by 10%

  • Lowered the miss distance threshold for suppression from pistols and SMGs (pistols or SMGs will not produce suppression unless their projectiles pass extremely close to a player)

  • Reduced and standardized the ‘recoil offset camera limit’ across all weapon archetypes, which limits how far away from the center of the screen the weapon can travel

  • Reduced and standardized ‘recoil grip alignment max’ and ‘recoil grip angle max’ across all weapon archetypes, which reduces the rotation of the weapon around the pistol grip during recoil - leading to the feeling that rifles and other longarms aren’t braced in the shoulder, and causing to the front of the weapon to dip down during recoil and losing the front sight post on some weapons

  • Reduced and standardized ‘sway - final sway clamp’ and ‘sway alignment - final sway clamp’ across all weapon archetypes. This will cap how much sway a weapon can accumulate under all circumstances sooner than it did previously

  • Smoothed out the standard recoil curve to prevent the small, floaty, ‘pop’ at the end of each recoil event

  • Increased the total amount of suppression that medium machine guns (PK family, M240 family, MG3, Maximi, QJY-88) can deliver

  • Improved recoil characteristics of the AS VAL/VSS

  • Improved recoil characteristics of SKS

  • Improved recoil characteristics of EF88 family

  • Improved recoil characteristics of the M240 family

As part of the upgrade to vehicles from using the older UE4 PhysX to the new UE5 Chaos physics, we have also done a pass on many of the vehicles for their top speed and acceleration. We have configured vehicles to have a closer resemblance to their real life capabilities, both in terms of their top speed as well as the acceleration and gear ratios. For example, the US Army M2A3 IFV will now have a top speed of roughly 65kph, which is actually slightly slower than the US Army M1A2 MBT with a top speed of roughly 70kph. This will be noticeable in game especially for larger, heavier vehicles, which take longer to reach their max speeds. Note that although vehicles are configured to real life capabilities, there are exceptions made for gameplay purposes (ie T72/T90 MBT reverse speeds).

Tracked vehicles traction and obstacle clearance has been improved with the move to Chaos Physics. Tracks now have more accurate tracing in UE5, allowing for the tracks to get more consistent torque when maneuvering through difficult uneven terrain and obstacles.

Wheeled vehicles have a higher speed advantage on roads but are now slower offroad, allowing tracked vehicles to have more appreciable speed advantages when traversing off road terrain.

• The Skirmish game mode is no longer a smaller variant of AAS but will continue to focus on a higher-intensity, smaller-scale 50v50 experience with a target duration of 20 to 30 minutes.

• Each team will have one ‘anchor’ capture point, once captured, the next 5 capture points can be captured in any order, conquest-style.

• The team that controls the majority of capture points will cause a ticket bleed on the opposing team. The ticket bleed increases with each additional capture point controlled.

• The ‘anchor’ capture point can only be captured if the opposing team controls all 5 capture points. Capturing the ‘anchor’ capture point will trigger a mercy bleed and quickly bring the round to an end.

• This is an infantry-focused game mode in which a heavy reliance will be placed on rally points so place them in conservative, safe locations.

• On most layers, a light tactical vehicle and transport truck will spawn on a delay to help resupply ammo and transport wiped squads quickly back to relevant capture points. 

And now, an update from Squiders and his Bots:

• SquidBots now can path around dynamic objects, including deployables and vehicle wrecks.

• SquidBots can now occupy vehicles.

• SquidBots can now man vehicle / emplacement turrets.

• SquidBots can now drive land vehicles.

• SquidBots can no longer spot enemies through thick foliage. As more foliage obscures their line of sight to an enemy, the chance of them noticing the enemy diminishes.

• SquidBots now always aim for the soldier’s heads. This aims to fix issues where SquidBots won’t fire at enemies that are standing behind low cover

• SquidBots attacking vehicles will now aim for vehicle components, shooting out tyres, tracks, tail rotors etc.

• SquidBots now move to cover when reloading.

• SquidBots are now less likely to notice an enemy if the enemy is crouch or prone.

• SquidBots will now avoid open areas, preferring to move near cover wherever possible.

• SquidBots will now intelligently switch to the best weapon to engage a target (previously they'd pick the first weapon in their inventory that can damage a target).

• SquidBots now behave more intelligently with non-visual targets:

  • SquidBots now suppress suspected enemy locations, including throwing grenades and launching explosive projectiles.

  • SquidBots now track down the most relevant sound they’ve heard (rather than the closest sound).

  • SquidBots now switch weapons based on their prediction of a target. E.g. on hearing a vehicle they’ll pre-emptively switch to their Anti-tank Launcher.

  • SquidBots searching for an enemy will now slow down and be careful as they approach their target, pre-aiming suspected locations.

• SquidBots will now be less accurate when losing line of sight to an enemy then regaining line of sight to them (emulate the shock of suddenly seeing a target)..

• Static defender SquidBots now turn to look where they hear gunfire.

• Fixed SquidBots that have turned on the spot not being able to spot new targets.

• Fixed map marker not rotating when SquidBots turn on the spot.

• Halved the strength of suppression that SquidBots receive - this will make suppressing SquidBots a more intentional player action.

• Fixed defender SquidBots giving up on pushing an enemy halfway through due to their path taking them outside of their max distance to search.

• Reduced SquidBots ability to notice enemies at distance.

• Fixed SquidBots spines rotating in unnatural ways.

• SquidBots can now do long distance path finding.

• SquidBot pathfinding now has variance - bots taking on the same journey will take varied paths.

• SquidBots will no longer spot targets through smoke VFX (handheld smoke grenades, smoke mortars, vehicle gunner smoke).

• Added functionality for determining good defence positions for SquidBots against known attacker positions.

• Added support for cosmetic SquidBot weapons that can do fake gunshot firing.

• Fixed SquidBotSpawner log spamming. SquidBot spawners now activate after 5 seconds (was 10 seconds).

• Modding Fix: Fixed SquidBots not being able to aim if they were uncontrolled (e.g. sequencer bots).

• Modding Fix: No longer hardcoding vanilla voice tables for SquidBots - bots for modded factions can have correct voicelines.

The new Insurgent Pack includes 4 cosmetic items for the Middle Eastern Insurgents faction:

• Habibi - AKM, AKMS, and PM md. 63 Assault Rifles for all biomes

• Resistance - AMD-65 Assault Rifle for all biomes

• Spear - SKS Rifle for all biomes

• Shamal - Mosin Carbine and Mosin Rifle for all biomes

The new Second Tour Pack contains cosmetic items for the USA and the USMC factions.
The improvised, taped-up Field Mod skin can be applied to the following weapons:

• M4A1 and M4 Carbines (USA and USMC)

• M16A4 Assault Rifle (USMC)

• M27 Assault Rifle (USMC)

• M38 Marksman Rifle (USMC)

• M110 Marksman Rifle (USA)

• M17 Pistol (USA and USMC)

• M9 Pistol (USMC)

  

These items can be equipped on the Customize screen which can be accessed from the Main Menu.

We've added a free “Downtime” emote for you to use while hanging out around the main base during downtime. It will be automatically added to your inventory.

The emote is available for use with primary weapons (Rifles, LMGs) and pistols equipped. The animation is selected automatically based on your currently equipped weapon.

Certain skins from existing packs are now available to new and updated factions!

IMF has access to the following skins from Clash and Woodland packs:

• Nettle for AK-12 

• Horizon for SV-98M (this skin can now be used both on Woodland and Desert maps by IMF and VDV)

• Tree Line for AK-74M 

The new CRF faction has access to the following skins from Contractors pack:

• Forest Viper for M16 Wormpool

• Forest Bull for M4 Simon Offense

• Forest Trophy for G17 Pistol

USMC Mirage skin from Clash pack is now also available for USMC M27 Automatic Rifle and M38 Marksman Rifle.

WPMC Woodland weapon skins from Contractors pack now will also show on Snow maps:

• Forest Wolf for AK-101 PushCo

• Forest Viper for M16 Wormpool

• Forest Bull for M4 Simon Offense

• Forest Trophy for G17 Pistol

⭐ = Important to communicate in general

🛠️ = Important to communicate to modders or server owners

• ⭐ Reworked the Picture in Picture Scopes to draw directly to the player's screen, increasing fidelity and image clarity, especially when using upscaling. This change has removed the prioritize clarity / prioritize AA options from the settings menu, and allows scopes to draw at full crisp resolution.

• ⭐ Fixed an issue where some Point-Shooting behavior was dependent on your framerate:

  • Point-Shooting movement speed now scales linearly with the speed at which you move the mouse.

  • Point-Shooting range of motion has been tightened up slightly.

  • Point-Shooting config is more consistent across different weapons.

  • Point-Shooting movement speed is more consistent whether at the edge or center of the range of motion.

  • Fixed "phantom forces" which could cause uncommanded horizontal shifts in aim when adjusting aim in the vertical axis while Point-Shooting.

• ⭐ Removed the 'unarmed' role from all factions. This tied up valuable space for additional role variants for some factions, and could create difficulties for server admins when it came to asset wasting rules. We intend to reintroduce unarmed functionality in the future as part of a more fleshed out feature.

• Increased the standard amount of pistol magazines from 2 to 4

• Adjusted Middle Eastern Insurgents unit description to include "+1 extra HAB available per FOB"

• Added engine idle screen shake effects to vehicles

• Added the Weapon Inspect emote to now be shown in 3rd person.

• Added the ability for soldiers to focus (zoom-in) their vision while standing still. The default keybind is Shift.

• Slightly increased ADS focus zoom amount for ironsights and reflex sights.

• Added a new "Driver Focus Zoom" functionality: Drivers of ground and water vehicles can now zoom in their view as long as they are below 5 km/h and not applying throttle inputs. The default keybind is Shift (shared with "STATIONARY ZOOM")

• Driver cameras now react more realistically to vehicle movement.

• The weapon handling indicator now appears in vehicles and turrets to indicate shot dispersion. The spread increases the longer you hold down the trigger and reduces over time when you cease fire. Fire in short bursts for the greatest accuracy. This feature already existed on emplaced MGs, but lacked visual feedback until now.

• Drones can now be destroyed in one shot. Collision damage is unchanged. 

• AAS/RAAS - Reduced the number of tickets gained from capturing an enemy-held objective from 60 to 50. Capturing a neutral-held flag will continue to provide 20 tickets.

• Standardized weapon spring on all weapons. All weapons should feel more responsive to player movement. Light and medium machineguns will by contrast feel more heavy or difficult to maneuver with.

• MPT-76 - Slightly adjusted the semi-automatic fire rate to be more authentic.

• T72S MBT - Adjusted GFI T72S MBT armor values to be slightly less effective than the T72B3:

  • Turret Front: 700mm to 600mm

  • Turret Side: 250mm to 200mm

  • Turret Rear: 100mm to 80mm

  • Turret Roof Front: 200mm to 100mm

  • Hull Front: 200mm to 150mm

• Combined Arms Battlegroups - Reduced the number of Infantry Fighting Vehicles available for most factions from 3 to 2.
  This is to reduce the overall amount of heavy vehicles within a round of gameplay - which can be quite powerful in the hands of experienced crews, as well as to bring some more of a downside to choosing combined arms.
  This also helps us limit the amount of heavier vehicles on more specialized battlegroups (i.e. if combined arms has 3 IFVs, we may have to add 4 IFVs to motorized or mechanized battlegroups to make it feel worth choosing, or to differentiate it enough compared to combined arms).

• Motorized Battlegroups - Helicopter initial spawn delay increased from 6 minutes to 10 minutes

• Motorized Battlegroups - Main Battle Tank initial spawn delay increased from 15 minutes to 20 (except for factions with older generation tanks like TLF, IMF, MEI, and WPMC)

• Support Battlegroups - Removed MBT spawn from all conventional faction Support-type battlegroups

• Armored Battlegroups - Added 10-minute initial delay to extra MBT spawns for Armored-type Battlegroups

• Updated battlegroup-type icons to NATO symbols (ex: combined arms, light infantry, motorized, etc). Tooltips will appear when hovering the cursor over these which will indicate the battlegroup type.

• WPMC Rifleman 02 - Replaced the M4 Simon Offense ironsights with a variant featuring a holographic optic

• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to stand on very fast moving vehicles. Players can now only stand on top of a vehicle if it's driving under 30 km/h. If the player is on a vehicle that exceeds that speed, they will lose their balance and fall off.

• Updated 3D models for the Mosin, SKS, AKM, AMD-65, PM Md.63, KLF, and KLS

• Added new AK74 firing sounds

• Updated the SKS rifle with new firing sounds

• Optimized vehicle exit points to reduce the performance cost of vehicle movement

• Added names to the Jensen’s Range memorial

• Fixed a bug with calculating fall damage

• Fixed a bug where players could ADS with melee weapons

• Fixed a bug where the Smoking emote was not canceled when changing your stance to prone

• Fixed suppression missing from the Infantry Tutorial segment where the player crawls beneath the barbed wire while under fire.

• Reduced intensity of ammo cook turret launches.

• Fixed grenades thrown above prone / crouched soldiers bouncing in midair.

• Fixed player weapon switching to drone FPV Controller item if the drone is destroyed while not possessed.

• Fixed mortar emplacements missing their firing animation.

• Fixed an issue with the TLF M60T MBT (woodland only) where damage on the commander's cupola would be transferred as damage to the hull.

• Fixed a bug where the BAF Machine Gunner’s arm would stretch too far when aiming down the sights while prone

• Fixed drone FPV controller screen stuck in space above the player's spawn point when spawning with an FPV Controller item.

• Fixed an issue with the MEI / IMF UB-32 Rocket Artillery Emplacement where the weapon had a broken reload animation in first and third person, which occurred about 50% of the time on reload

• Fixed mortar emplacements missing animations

• Fixed an issue with the SPG-9 Emplacement where the camera was too far forward when reloading the HEAT ammo on the weapon

• Fixed an issue with the M113/ACV-15 Tracked APC where reloading the M2 or Mk19 turret would automatically rotate to the front position instead of keeping its original orientation

• Fixed drone FPV controller using same inventory texture as drone.

• Fixed placeable drone ghost showing UI which described it as unbuilt razor wire.

• Fixed an issue with a village house asset where players inside the house could be shot but could not shoot back

• Fixed a bug where the player model would visibly jitter when leaning left

• Fixed a visual issue with the PLA PF98 HAT soldier's shoulder clipping through the launch tube.

• Fixed a visual issue with the WPMC Meupold Scope where certain parts appeared to look too glossy.

• Fixed a visual issue with a small part of the PLA QLG-10 clipping through the soldier's thumb when switching the QBZ95-1's fire mode.

• Fixed a visual issue with the WPMC M1117 MRAP where the grill was missing from the top of the vehicle.

• Fixed a visual issue with the PLA HJ-8L ATGM Emplacement where the rocket pod  would blink during its reloading animation.

• Fixed a visual issue with the Kornet ATGM, when reloading the soldier could be seen loading an empty tube into the launcher, which then turned into a loaded tube after the reload animation finished.

• Fixed a visual issue with the IMF FN FAL Rifle Grenade where it would briefly flicker at the end of the reloading animation.

• Fixed a visual issue with the G3A3 HK79 Grenade Launcher where the rifle’s stock would clip into the camera when ADS-ing with a higher FOV setting.

• Fixed a visual issue with the TLF HAR-66 Anti Tank Launcher where the rear tube cover would clip into the soldiers hand when using the weapon inspect emote.

• Fixed a visual issue with the PLA QLG-10 UGL when reloading other players saw the soldiers finger bend outwards at a disturbing angle during the animation.

• Fixed an issue with the BAF SA330 Helicopter where the gunner animation camera would be broken when entering the gunner position from the pilot position.

• Fixed a visual issue where rifles would often clip through a soldiers arm while crawling in the prone position.

• Fixed a visual issue with the smoothing groups of the AS VAL rifle which affected the visual quality.

• Fixed a visual issue with the animation when switching from a knife to a rifle, weapons no longer flipping with the transition.

• Fixed a visual issue with the IMF BMP2 camo stretching over the view ports.

• Fixed a visual issue with the TLF ACV15 APC Open Top M2 turret's weapon having a broken LOD causing it to look bad from longer ranges.

• Fixed a visual issue with a see-through hole on the QBZ-95 magazine.

• Fixed IMF BMP1 wrecks appearing with the wrong camo pattern.

• Fixed a visual issue when the repair kit was equipped and player uses a gesture the arm could clip into the repair kit.

• Fixed a visual issue with most weapon emplacements, where the soldiers hand positions would jitter and not stay locked on the emplacement when rotating the weapon.

• Fixed the shading issues on M16A2 and M16A2 M203

• Fixed a bug where the player model’s soldier was clipping through the tube of the PF98 launcher

• The Veteran skin for the M72A7 LAW can now be used with the WPMC faction

• Fixed a visual issue with the UGL grenades material not looking correct

• Fixed the MEI SL Crewman having the wrong mag count.

• Fixed a bug where the TLF HAT kits were getting too many mags.

• Fixed a bug where unfinished FOB deployables were not refunding some of the resources used in making them.

• Mute status on the scoreboard will now be properly updated after the muted player changes squads.

• Fixed a bug where the BMP-2M front cage armor was clipping through the water shield when entering the water.

• Fixed an issue where amphibious vehicles were having engine exhaust smoke VFX always on after exiting amphibious mode.

• Fixed a visual bug with the tracks of the BAF FV107 ‘Scimitar’ ARV

• Fixed an issue where the M1151 mounted M240 turret was floating above the vehicle

• Fixed the Leopard 2A6M turret not aligning properly on death.

• Fixed ambient occlusion issues on the M16A4 barrel and M4 frontsight

• Fixed an issue with the WPMC M16 Wormpool + C-Mag & M16 Wormpool + Meupold where the Bipod moved into the up position if the weapon was fired when aiming down sights.

• Fixed Technical SPG9 backblast not causing damage to infantry.

• Fixed a bug where HABs would sometimes not be spawnable when placed in a specific building type used across our Eastern Europe biome maps.

• Fixed SPG-9 animations not showing when swapping ammo types

• Fixed a visual bug with switching firing modes on the QBZ95-1

• Fixed an animation bug with machine guns.

• Fixed a bug with the scope on the USA M249 / M145.

• Fixed a bug where some weapons' full auto audio was continuing even after the player stopped firing if the burst was long enough.

• Fixed a bug with the M240’s 1p firing sounds when using low audio settings.

• Fixed M11511 throttle audio delay.

• Fixed gunner outside seat to have exterior sounds as well.

• Fixed reload audio sync for T62 and ZTD-05.

• Fixed L85A2 not getting any 1p audio while firing in auto.

• Fixed an animation bug that caused switching to a rifle to look awkward

• Improved shading on M4 and M16 rifles

• Fixed Weapon Inspection Emote not cancelling smoothly for multiple WPMC weapons

• Fixed a visual issue where the stock clips of rifles appeared to clip through the arms of players when moving while prone

• Fixed a visual issue with Binocular animations so they can now be seen in third person.

• Adjusted Makarov and Tokarev pistol mag counts from 4 to 3.

• Fixed a bug where hexes in Territory Control could become uncapturable and start spamming capture messages.

• Fixed MEI not showing up in discord rich presence.

• Various localization fixes.

• Fixed texture issues on some GFI vehicles.

• Adjusted the weapon skin preview on the Customize and Store screens to display properly on 4:3 monitors.

• Fixed a bug where clicking “yes” on the server time out pop-up would result in getting stuck on the queue window

General

• Invasion - Standardized the capture zone layout for the following maps:

  • Al Basrah

  • Anvil

  • Chora

  • Fallujah

  • Fools Road

  • Gorodok

  • Kamdesh Highlands

  • Kohat Toi

  • Kokan

• Fixed various minor collision issues across some of our maps.

Belaya

• Retired for the time being due to technical issues from the UE5 upgrade

Black Coast

• Fixed apartment building floating slightly causing exploit

• Fixed players being able to get stuck between platform and train

Chora

• Fixed a bug that kept the Team 2 mainbase from resupplying vehicles

• Fixed a large tear in the landscape at grid B9-7-5

Fallujah

• Fixed main base radius on RAAS v2 not covering all vehicles

Gorodok

• Fixed a bug where a cliff was missing its rock face

Goose Bay

• Fixed repair station clipping into barrier

Harju

• Fixed a bug where the roof could clipping through a building’s interior

Lashkar Valley

• Fixed a hole in the terrain that was causing players to get stuck

Manicouagan

• Removed a floating concrete barrier inside a house 

Sanxian Island

• Made updates to asphalt roads

Sumari

• TC v1 - Fixed an issue with vehicles spawning flipped over.

• All Middle Eastern Insurgent faction acronyms have been updated from “INS” to “MEI” for all server commands.

• All Middle Eastern Alliance faction acronyms have been updated from “MEA” to “GFI” for all server commands.

• Adjusted the minimum amount of time a server can set before voting begins or rolling to the next layer to 30 seconds. Keep in mind that once the voting flow begins, players can return to the scoreboard at any time to give out commendations. We may consider adjusting this further if not having enough time to give out commendations becomes a friction point for the wider playerbase.

• Increased the default FactionSkipRounds (Delay for how many rounds since the last played faction re-appears in voting options) and FactionSetupSkipRounds (Delay for how many rounds since the last played battlegroup type re-appears in voting options) in the VoteConfig.cfg from 1 to 3. The intent is for players playing on servers that do not explore or experiment with the VoteConfig server options to have access to a wider variety of faction content.

• Updated the mod SDK to v9.0

• Updated mod versioning to v9.0. This means that all mods will need to be re-cooked with the v9.0 SDK to be compatible with the updated version of the game.

• Fixed a bug where the debug tool accessible while in admin cam could destroy an ammo rack without also destroying its vehicle

• Added Validator for DataTables using VehicleRuleElement RowStructs

The following issues are bugs that the team is aware of and working on fixing. We have a 9.0.1 Hotfix patch scheduled for some time post 9.0 release, that should include resolutions to some of these issues, and anything new and dire that appears post release:

• The Sapper and Engineer roles are not intended to be separate categories for commendations, in the near future these will be merged under the “engineer” role

• The rifleman 02 role for CRF currently appears with a broken texture for their shirt on the deployment screen

• We are aware of an issue where the WPMC M1117, CPV, and modern technical vehicles all show “broken textures” when the vehicle is using “dark black” vehicle paint

• Currently the CAF CH-146 CAS Helicopter is spawning in a way that leaves it stuck on its helipad when the pilot attempts to gain altitude

• The wreck of the GFI's UH-1H heli is currently using the wrong wreck texture

• The GFI's M1151 variants currently show the USA/USMC wreck when destroyed

• Players will sometimes see Skirmish voting options that are other than Combined Arms (RGF and USA Light Infantry battlegroups), which results in loading into broken layer setups

• For multiple factions, on the deployment screen, some kits’ weapon icons are missing their weapon name or show an incorrect kit icon

• The Mi17 Helicopter becomes invisible when viewed from up close, from specific angles

• CRF Lee Enfield Iron Sight Bolt Action Rifle zeroing is slightly off mark

• When the Second Tour Pack’s M4/M4A1 Field Mod skin is equipped, using an M4/M4A1 with a M68 scope, a ring is visible in the scope when in ADS

• When giving another player a commendation during round end results in a rank increase, the scoreboard won’t immediately update to reflect the new rank (Career screen unaffected)

• Fallujah Skirmish v1 + v2 - ammo crates missing from main bases

• Buttons for the music player, and the Tutorial are missing on the Main Menu

• The CAF M113A3’s right tracks aren’t animating

• Several CRF vehicle wrecks are using the wrong wreck model / texture

• Vaulting onto the front tire of a Minsk bike can result in clipping under the terrain

• When trying to plant AT mines, the placement ghost will sometimes flicker red briefly while moving

• The GFI soldier’s berets, helmets and rally points are still showing the old MEA logo

• Some of the reflex sight (holo / red dots) reticles might be slightly too bright / emissive, or not bright enough

• Reflex sight reticles might be slightly grainy / noisy / flicker in some conditions

• Woodland variants of the BAF LPPV RWS + FV432 L37A2 RWS gunners are missing some reticle elements when zoomed in

• The GFI Combined Arms unit has 2 BMP-2 spawns, instead of 1 as intended

• Minsk bikes will be pushed too far when using the “push” functionality (under vehicle reset)

• Quad bikes are missing the “push” functionality

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

• Vehicles that can fire multiple ATGMs as part of one “magazine” (eg. Spandrel, ZBL08) can only resupply their ATGM ammunition when all shots have been fired

• The commendation rank text is displayed incorrectly in the Chinese and French localizations.

This list may receive updates after the Patch Notes initial release and will be marked with a (NEW) tag.

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.

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.

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!

Thanks, Squaddies!

- Howitzer

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

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!

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.

───

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

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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!