Squad, Offworld Industries’ 100-player tactical shooter, is coming to consoles. PlayStation 5 owners can play it now in a free alpha preview. Publisher Secret Mode is bringing the game to PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S in 2027, and the alpha is the first public test of the console build. It includes both training courses and full 50v50 Invasion matches on Gorodok, all played on a DualSense. It is a narrow slice of the game. Even so, it shows how most of Squad‘s systems work on a controller, including logistics, FOB building, mortars, and layered voice comms.
Quick answer: The free Squad PS5 alpha preview is open to everyone who enlists, and it runs until Sunday, October 25. Xbox is not included. The full console launch is set for 2027, with no exact date yet.
Squad PS5 alpha preview: Dates, access, and requirements
The test started on Friday, October 16, and closes on Sunday, October 25. Anyone with a PS5 can join, but you have to enlist on the official alpha page first. That page sends you to the PlayStation Store, where the build is listed as a separate free download.
| Detail | Alpha preview |
|---|---|
| Platform | PlayStation 5 only |
| Window | October 16–25 |
| Price | Free |
| Map and mode | Gorodok, Invasion |
| Factions | PLA vs. AFU |
| Server regions seen | US East, EU, SA |
The main menu labels the build Squad v1.0.0.697025.0.0.7.4 - SHIPPING and shows an Alpha Gameplay banner. Official servers are named in the form Squad Alpha Preview US East 17, with matching EU and South America instances.
The only unresolved issue is online access. Squad’s PlayStation Store page notes that online multiplayer requires PS Plus; Offworld hasn’t clarified whether the free alpha is exempt. If enlisting doesn’t make the build appear on your console, Offworld has shared a brief walkthrough of the process.
Squad training on console: Infantry and Pilot tutorials
The main menu has four options: FIND MATCH, HOME, SERVERS, and TRAINING. Training holds two separate courses. These are the INFANTRY TUTORIAL (PRE-DEPLOYMENT TRAINING) and the PILOT TUTORIAL (HELICOPTER FLIGHT TRAINING). They are more than a token onboarding pass. Together they teach the rules that decide whether a new squad holds together in a live match.
Infantry Tutorial
The infantry course is set at the “Regional Training Center, Classified Location.” You begin in a barracks tent, then move on to an obstacle course. NPC instructors, including Cpl. Hurst, Sgt. Mason, and Sgt. Miles, teach you to sprint, vault, crawl, and climb tall wooden barricades. You’ll also get a buddy boost across a wall and cross a balance beam above a water pit.
A trench crawl amid simulated machine gun and artillery fire demonstrates suppression, which causes blur and camera shake. The medical station teaches you about bleeding: your health drains steadily until you apply a field dressing. Any class can use field dressings to revive a downed squadmate, so the ability isn’t limited to medics.
The base camp station introduces the FOB radio. It explains construction supplies, notes that radios can be destroyed by high-caliber rounds and shovels, and compares squad rally points with HAB bunkers as spawn options.
The communications tent shows proximity, squad, and command chat, along with radio channels and the keypad grid coordinate system for calling out positions.
The rest of the course covers vehicles and weapons:
- A vehicle identification station with 3D dioramas of the M1A2, BTR-82A, LAV-25, BMP-2, URAL 375/ZU-23 TRUCK, M939 TRUCK, and TECHNICAL, plus color-coded armor thickness and internal engine and ammo compartments.
- A firing range with standard issue rifles, automatic rifles, a designated marksman rifle, sidearms, grenades, grenade launchers, and anti-tank rocket launchers, with targets at 50M, 100M, and 200M.
- Ammo crates for switching between Rifleman, Raider, and Marksman kits.
- A Black Hawk that you load with 1,000 ammo and construction supplies through the vehicle radial wheel.
Pilot Tutorial
Flying is taught in its own module at “Jensens Open Flight Range.” You switch to the Pilot kit there, learn the cockpit gauges, collective, yaw, pitch, and roll, and then fly through rings over a desert range before landing. Getting a helicopter airborne is noticeably harder on a controller than other tasks. Crashes are common at first, and the game lets you adjust pitch and roll sensitivity separately to make flying easier to manage.
Gorodok Invasion matches in the Squad console alpha
Multiplayer uses a server browser, which is uncommon for a console shooter. The only map is Gorodok, running as Gorodok Invasion v3 WP or Gorodok Invasion v2 WP. The People’s Liberation Army (118th Combined Arms Brigade) fights the Armed Forces of Ukraine (11th Army Corps) over the rail line that runs through the map. Each side has 50 players, divided into numbered squads.
Vehicles must be claimed before you can use them, so not everyone can jump into the nearest helicopter. When a teammate does fly, the trip gives you a long view of Gorodok’s forests, rivers, and ridgelines. If the pilot crashes, everyone aboard dies, and that happens often in the alpha.
Matches are long. In one full round, the PLA won with a COMPLETE VICTORY and 317 tickets left, while the AFU dropped to zero after 01:29:04. The post-game screen shows the top squad, top supply runner, and top medic, along with timeline charts for ticket bleed, infantry losses, and destroyed vehicles. Friendly fire is on, and it’s easy to shoot a teammate when you can only see a silhouette at long range.
A generic PlayStation error popup, Something went wrong. (CE-107101-0), appeared during the alpha. It is expected in a test build that is partly about stressing servers.
FOB, HAB, and mortar rules on PS5
Logistics decides more matches than marksmanship. A squad that drives a supply truck around the edge of the map and sets up spawns behind the enemy can change how a round plays out. The console alpha keeps the PC rules for this almost exactly.
| Structure or action | Requirement |
|---|---|
| FOB radio | Placed by squad leader, free |
| HAB spawn | 500 construction points |
| Mortar tube | 300 construction points |
| Mortar rounds | FOB ammo points |
| Building | Entrenching tool (shovel) |
Supplies come from a logistics truck, called a Logi, which unloads construction and ammo points within the radio’s radius. Squad members then hold the build button with their shovels until the HAB is finished. After that, the whole team can spawn there. Ammo crates near the HAB let players rearm, change kits, and refill rockets or bandages.
Changing kits, either at an ammo box or on respawn, doesn’t give you full ammo. You need to rearm separately, and that uses the FOB’s ammo points. Mortars draw from the same pool. The squad leader places target markers that show distance, and the operator lines up the compass azimuth and reads the elevation in mils from an on-screen ranging chart.
Early feedback shows a clear weak spot. Many alpha players don’t build FOBs or rally points, and many don’t revive teammates. Players have also complained about the missing invert-look option, motion blur, and the voice acting in the tutorial.
Squad console launch in 2027: Confirmed details
The alpha plays as a preview of the console version, and Offworld has confirmed many details about the 2027 release. Gunplay is unchanged from PC, apart from aim assist. Controls and the interface were rebuilt around radial menus for stance, equipment, vehicles, and VoIP.
| Feature | Console version |
|---|---|
| Platforms | PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S |
| Release | 2027, no exact date |
| Modes | AAS, RAAS, Invasion, Fireteam |
| Maps | Al Basrah, Fallujah, Mutaha, Narva, Yehorivka, Gorodok |
| Factions | US Army, USMC, PLA, AFU, PMC, MEI, RGF, BAF |
| Player count | 100 in PvP, 5 in Fireteam PvE |
| PS5 / Series X target | 4K dynamic, 60 fps |
| Series S target | 1440p dynamic, 30 fps |
| Mouse and keyboard | Not supported |
| Format | Digital only |
The game has no distinct performance or quality modes. Official dedicated servers operate in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, and console players can host servers of their own. Opt-in crossplay lets PlayStation and Xbox players join each other on official console servers. PC players can join console players only on community servers using the console ruleset; these appear in a separate section of the PC browser.
Several features aren’t planned: cross-progression won’t be supported, and a Steam purchase doesn’t include a console copy. DLC and cosmetics remain on the platform where you bought them, while mods won’t be available on console at launch. Offworld has no announcement to make about Game Pass or PS Plus. Following launch, updates will arrive on every platform on the same day under the studio’s shared “One Squad” plan. A beta might follow the alpha, but no date has been confirmed.
Free Recon Team Pack for Squad on Steam
Alongside the alpha, all Steam owners of Squad can pick up the Recon Team Pack on Steam at no cost through October 25. The pack gives the USMC faction five weapon skins with woodland patterns.
| Skin | Weapons |
|---|---|
| Pointman | M16A4, M27, M38 |
| Liana | M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle |
| Sweep | M249, M240B (also USA) |
| Palm | M91A1, M18 pistols |
| Sage | M32, M320 (M320 also USA) |
The alpha shows that Squad on a controller is still the same slow, communication-heavy game it is on PC. Rounds last an hour and a half, a well-placed HAB matters more than a sniper, and staying quiet in voice chat costs your team. Until the alpha closes on October 25, a PS5 and a microphone are enough to try it.
