Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 299 sampled Steam reviews (139 positive / 160 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing19% mention it
- Controls & UI11% mention it
- Multiplayer & servers11% mention it
- Visuals & art8% mention it
- Combat8% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Bugs & crashes19% mention it
- Controls & UI18% mention it
- Story & writing12% mention it
- Multiplayer & servers9% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
29%
149 reviews
5-15h
67%
73 reviews
15-40h
53%
51 reviews
40-100h
72%
18 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 79 | 64 |
| Creator reviews (2 tracked) | – | 88 | 1 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 65% | 63 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 56% | 57 | 33 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 94 reviews sampled · 93 total reviews in window · weighted 31.1 up / 24.2 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (119)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 70
“With an entertaining but forgettable story and a sparse but enjoyable multiplayer, Star Wars: Squadrons shines through with its gameplay. Flying is incredibly immersive and if you have a VR headset (and the stomach) this one boasts the quintessential immersive experience. For those without though, this feels like a decent but not-quite-great game.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Star Wars: Squadrons offers some engaging gameplay and mechanical depth, which is great, given the overall focus on the multiplayer. But it's hard to ignore how little of the actuall content there is. You can beat story campaign in just about eight hours, and then you have to spend your time in only two online modes. It doesn't seem like developers are intersted in any post-launch support, so it'quite possible that the game will lose all of it's playerbase rather quickly.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Star Wars: Squadrons has great flight mechanics, graphics, and highly detailed cockpits that will make you feel immersed in its epic battles. Unfortunately, it falls short in form of only 6 maps and boring consmetics. Perhaps developers should have focused on adding more multiplayer content and fixing unfair matchmaking instead of making an average campaign.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Squadrons is a visually spectacular product. But it lacks in every other category.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Star Wars Squadrons proves that Jedi: Fallen Order was no fluke. Video games have never been more empowered to immerse players in all the coolest parts of the Star Wars universe, and EA is no longer tripping on its own feet making it happen. We used to daydream of being so fully engrossed in a spectacular Star Wars dogfight. Now, after just an hour of Star Wars Squadrons, with the right group, the daydream is when we can get our friends back in the air.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“The typical gamer will find Star Wars Squadrons a difficult game with a bland storyline and poor content. Others will have an opportunity to take out their joysticks and find out just how great the classic Star Wars sims were. It’s good that the gaming community was reminded of the classics like X-Wings and TIE Fighers, but I’m still waiting for a true gem to come in the future.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“The last game I can remember that had this kind of immersion was X-Wing: Alliance for the PC back in 1999. Motive Studios had a daunting task tackling a game that Star Wars fans have been craving for a long time. And for the most part, they stay on target.”
read full review ↗ - 67
“Star Wars Squadrons is a solid Star Wars starfighter game that struggles under the limitations of trying to make a game that can be played both in and out of VR. The game's visuals are striking, but don't do much to makeup for its repetitive gameplay. As a VR experience, Star Wars Squadrons ranks among the best, but as a videogame it leaves much to be desired.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Despite the game’s flaws, Star Wars: Squadrons is currently the only modern Star Wars game that truly fulfils the fantasies of many fans; allowing them to experience the epic space combat that they’ve seen in the franchise for more than forty years.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Being terrible at any kind of multiplayer experience, but a lifelong fan of Star Wars (to the point of not changing my name even after years of school taunting) picking up Star Wars: Squadrons was a long and thought out deliberation. With a great single player story and addictive multiplayer mode that that puts any player in the heart of the movies, there isn't a shred of buyer's remorse. A few bugs have sullied enjoyment at time but these have been reported by the community and are sure to be patched out quickly. At a budget price, gamers are getting a difficult to put down flyer that currently holds the crown as greatest current-gen Star Wars title. Buckle up, make those pre-flight checks and don't get cocky kid.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Star Wars: Squadrons doesn't bring anything particularly new or inventive to the table that we haven't seen before in dogfighters, but it nails almost everything it embraces. The first-person perspective greatly benefits the immersive nature of the space battles, the sound design and music is about as perfect as they could ever be, and the story flips between the Imperials and Rebels to show us the ugly and beautiful sides of war.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Star Wars: Squadrons is the space combat game fans have been waiting years for, Motive Studios has captured the feeling of piloting an X-Wing or TIE Fighter with remarkable authenticity, and the multiplayer is as intense as anything in the genre.”
read full review ↗
TheReviewGeek
GameMAG
INDIANTVCZ
3DNews
Slant Magazine
GRYOnline.pl
Seasoned Gaming
Paste Magazine
Kakuchopurei
Cubed3
Nexus Hub
gamefinity…and 107 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Balancing Update - 6 MayMay 7, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Balancing Update - 7 AprilApr 7, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Balancing Update - 15 MarchMar 15, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Balancing Update - 24 FebruaryFeb 24, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Balancing Update - 17 FebruaryFeb 17, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Balancing Update - 12 FebruaryFeb 12, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Update 4.2 Release NotesJan 19, 2021
- Update 4.1 Release NotesDec 17, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Server-Side Balancing - 14 DecemberDec 14, 2020
- Update 4.0 Release NotesDec 11, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Update 3.0 Release NotesNov 25, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Pilot Briefing: Holiday Supply DropsNov 18, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Update 2.1 Release NotesNov 11, 2020
- Update 2.0 Release NotesNov 4, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Rank 0, Framerate cap, and more fixes within!Oct 30, 2020
- Update 1.2 Release NotesOct 15, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Update 1.1 Release NotesOct 8, 2020