Star Wars: Squadrons is an upcoming multiplayer game that will exclusively be playable in first-person for balance and immersion reasons.
Balance reasons
Star Wars: Squadrons is a multiplayer title that aims to immerse us. Make us feel like we’re really in a cockpit of a TIE Fighter. Is that the reason Squadrons can only be played in first-person? No, but it is one of the reasons. The other and I think much greater reason is balance. This is a multiplayer game, and as all multiplayer games, it’s going to be competitive. Imagine now that EA made Squadrons have the option of both first-person and third-person. How many people would pick third-person? A majority, if not all of them. Why you may ask? Because the field-of-view in third-person is exponentially greater than the first-person view.
Naturally, everyone that wants to win will pick that. It would be hard for first-person pickers to even immerse themselves in the game when everyone else has a clear advantage over them. But, when you’re spectating someone else play, you can see the ships in third-person. This was confirmed by creative director Ian Frazier in his interview with GameSpot.
Designed around immersion
While I believe balance is the main reason for Squadrons offering only the first-person view, immersion is another important factor. This title was designed to be as immersive as possible. You can even turn off the UI and all the important information would still be available via the instruments on your ship. This sounds like excellent game design for titles where you drive vehicles, or in this case, spaceships.
Another great thing for immersion is no microtransactions. Since nothing takes me out of a game more than having to pay $5 for a different color of paint for my ship. Mitch Dyer, the writer for the game confirmed it himself on Twitter. But, this is EA we’re talking about. They can always find a way to disappoint their fans.
While you wait for this spaceship simulator/multiplayer shooter, you can spend some quality time flying a TIE Fighter in Battlefront II which is available on HRK Game for a great price!
