Attention Squadies!

We have a fresh wave of recruits joining us from September 26 - September 30 for Squad's Free Weekend! Play for free our latest update 8.1 - Hired Guns, which brings the Western Private Military Contractors (WPMC) faction to Squad along with new weapon skins and emotes. We’ve also overhauled several significant menus and included many bug fixes to make playing and understanding Squad easier than ever. Read more about the Hired Guns update HERE.

Welcome to Squad, recruits!

Plus, you can pick up Squad now for 60% off for a limited time until October 3:

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

The Hired Guns update brings the Western Private Military Contractors (WPMC) faction to Squad along with new weapon skins and emotes. We’ve also overhauled several significant menus and included many bug fixes to make playing and understanding Squad easier than ever. Finally, we’ve added bots to the Seed mode games to allow for a better seeding experience.

The expected release date and time of this update is - September 25, 2024 11:00 AM PST

The Western Private Military Contractors (WPMC) faction… The Western PMC is an irregular Independent faction that focuses on non-standardized, modern infantry. While they may lack some of the tools that other conventional forces have such as heavy vehicles and heavy weapons, they make up for it with speed, agility, and infantry firepower.

• Primary colors/patterns are black and aftermarket camouflage.
  
• Independent faction, which can match up against any other faction in the game.
  
• This faction can be deployed to any biome or map.
  
• This faction has a noticeable lack of heavy vehicles, lacking infantry-fighting vehicles.
  
• This faction has a wide variety of modern and effective small-arms.

Murk Water Air Wing (Air Assault)
This unit prioritizes attacking from the air and is equipped with the new close-air support Loach helicopter. Due to its focus on aerial operations, the unit lacks the M60T battle tank and M1151 anti-tank guided missile variants that the other WPMC units have access to.

Manticore Security Task Force (Combined Arms)
This unit prioritizes controlling the battlefield through a mix of ground infantry and armored vehicles. This unit has access to the M60T tank, the TOW and M2 variants of the M1151 armored car, three helicopters, and more.

Overwatch 6 Patrol Group (Light Infantry)
This unit prioritizes using ground infantry to swiftly capture strategic objectives. This unit has access to nine 4x4 quad bikes, two armored SUVs equipped with miniguns, the TOW variant of the M1151 armored car, and more.

CPV Armored Car: A new light & agile vehicle exclusively for WPMC, the Convoy Protection Vehicle looks like a typical civilian SUV but is highly modified to protect occupants while maintaining very fast on-road top speeds. Comes in two variants: An unarmed transport and a fire support variant (equipped with an open-top M134 minigun). Comes in three color variants: Black, Merlot, Midnight Blue.

M1117 Armored Car: A new armored vehicle exclusively for WPMC, it features a closed-top dual turret HMG and GMG and a mine-resistant ambush-protected hull.

Loach Helicopter: A new helicopter exclusively for WPMC. Comes in two variants: the scout variant with room for 1 pilot and 3 passengers and the Close Air Support (CAS) variant equipped with miniguns and dumb-fire hydra rockets.

M1151 Armored Car: Re-texture of an existing vehicle, an agile fast-moving armored car. Comes in three variants: open-top M240 medium machine gun, open-top M2 heavy machine gun, and TOW Launcher (anti-tank missile).

M113A3 Tracked APC: Re-texture of an existing vehicle, a capable armored transport armed with an open-top M2 HMG.

M113A3 Tracked Mobile Spawn Vehicle: An existing tracked vehicle with a new special capability: the ability to rapidly deploy a mobile spawn point.

M939 Truck: Re-texture of an existing vehicle. Standard unarmed transport and supply carriers. Comes in two variants: Logistic truck and Transport truck.

M60T Main Battle Tank: Re-texture of an existing vehicle, bringing more heavy firepower to the faction with western-friendly gunner reticles.

Modern Technical 2-Seater Truck: Re-texture of an existing vehicle. A fire support light vehicle with three variants: One with an M2 machine gun, one with a mortar, and one with a minigun. Comes in three color variants: Black, Tan, and Gray.

Modern Technical 4-Seater Truck: Re-texture of an existing vehicle. Comes in three variants: Logistics truck, transport truck, and fire support truck (equipped with minigun). Comes in three color variants: Black, Tan, and Gray.

Raven CH146 Utility Helicopter: Re-texture and slight modification of the existing CH146 utility helicopter.

M14 Battle Rifle: A traditional M14 battle rifle chambered in 7.62mm, this is a tried and true weapon of war that hits hard. 3 Optic Variants: Iron Sights, M68 Optic, Meupold Scope + Bipod.

MP5A3 Submachine Gun: An iconic automatic submachine gun, ideal for CQC. 2 Optic Variants: Iron Sights, T800 Optic

M320 Grenade Launcher: A compact handheld 40mm grenade launcher, capable of firing accurate rounds of HEDP and Smoke grenades up to a range of 350m.

M4 Simon Offense Carbine Rifle: A custom M4 5.56mm carbine rifle chambered in standard 5.56mm. This weapon uses the existing M4 upper receiver but has custom handguards and grips, with an extra compact front receiver. 4 Optic Variants: Iron sights, EXPS Optic, T800 Optic, ACOG Scope

M4 Wormpool Carbine Rifle: A custom M4 carbine rifle chambered in standard 5.56mm. This weapon uses the existing upper and lower receiver but has custom handguards and grips. 4 Optic Variants: Iron Sights, EXPS Optic, T800 Optic, ACOG Scope.

M16 Wormpool Assault Rifle: A custom M16 full-length assault rifle chambered in standard 5.56mm. This weapon uses the existing upper and lower receiver but has custom handguards and grips. 5 Optic Variants: Iron Sights, EXPS Optic, T800 Optic, ACOG Scope, Meupold Scope + Bipod.

M16 Wormpool C-Mag: This M16 is equipped with a bipod and a 100-round “C-Mag”, which turns it into a fully automatic squad support weapon.

AK101 PushCo Assault Rifle: A custom AK101 rifle chambered in 5.56mm. This rifle uses a fully unique lower and upper receiver as well as unique handguards and grips to give the rifle a completely unique look compared to typical AK’s. 4 Optic Variants: Iron Sights, EXPS Optic, T800 Optic, ACOG Scope.

TW 338 SWS Sniper RIfle: This bolt action sniper rifle is from the same manufacturer as the CAF C14 Sniper Rifle, except this is the off-the-shelf variant with an OD paint job and no front rail. This allows the WPMC to conduct long-range reconnaissance and harassment opportunities.

Commander Abilities: The WPMC Commander has access to the handheld drone and heavy mortar barrage (similar to IMF / INS) as well as the F16 rocke strike (similar to TLF). WPMC Commander can also access these Commander abilities next to vehicles as well as HABS (similar to IMF / INS).

We are revamping the current end-of-round scoreboard into a more holistic After Action Report that will give players more information on how well they performed as a squad, as a team, and where their shortcomings were.

We have added bots to all of Squad’s seeding map layers. This is an official integration of the popular “Squidbots” mod.

Server admins can enable and configure these bots to provide a better seeding experience for players. When enabled, bots will take the place of players not yet connected to the server. As more players fill up the server, bots will gradually stop spawning.

We have also replaced the Jensen’s Range killhouse bots with these newer and smarter bots.

• Invasion game mode balance changes for attackers/defenders win chances:
  
  • Increased attackers starting tickets to 250 (up from 200)
    
  • Increased objective capture ticket gain to 130 (up from 100)
    
  • Updated all Invasion map layers to have a standard max 5 flag layout. Exceptions are: Harju Invasion v1 & v2, Sumari Invasion v1.
    
  • RAAS, AAS, Invasion flag capture speed increase now scales up to 27 players (previously, the maximum capture speed scale maxed out at 8 players). The new capture speed at 9 players is the same as the previous maximum capture speed: 77 seconds for an initial flag capture (or "backcap"). With more players, it will capture even faster: 46 seconds for 18 players, and 35 seconds for 27 players. This will allow new strategies for backcapping to unlock/reveal the next flags faster.
  Note: The number of 'capture speed chevrons' shown has been slightly changed due to the new maximum. You will see 4 chevrons at 9 players and 5 chevrons at 15+ players.
  
  
• Increased the effectiveness of vehicle-deployed IR smoke grenades against ATGMs, especially beam-riding (Kornet, Refleks, Bastion).
  
• TLF Faction - Added the HAR-66 Rocket Launcher to two LAT roles.
  
• MEA Faction - Added the MPT9 SMG to the Crewman and Pilot kit roles.
  
• Removed the TLF Grenadier kit with MGL 6-shot grenade launchers from all seeding map layers.
  
• Reduced the total mag size of the RGF BMP-2M IFV AGS30 from 300 to 120.
  
• Reduced Mk19 ammo to have 32 rounds per belt for the following vehicles:
  
  • USA / USMC M1151 Mk19
    
  • USA / USMC MATV Mk19
    
  • USA / TLF M113A3 Mk19
    
  • USMC RHIB Mk19
    
  • USMC AAVP7A1
    
  • CAF TAPV Mk19
    
  • Mk19 Tripod Emplacement
• Made the following changes to the RGF faction:
  
• Removed 1x BMP-1AM IFV from the RGF Mechanized Battlegroup
  
• Added 1x BMP-1AM IFV to the RGF Armored Battlegroup
  
• Updated the infantry and helicopter tutorials to have unique loading screen images.
  
• Added scrolling text to the unit info screen to make for a more consistent and readable UI.
  
• Updated several weapon cards in the Weapon Skins menu for consistency.
  
• Added Discord Rich Presence support for the PLAAGF and TLF factions as well as the Sanxian Islands map.

• Fixed a long-standing bug where players could get indefinitely stuck in the ragdoll state after being run over by a vehicle.
  
• Fixed a rare crash that could occur when booting up the game or changing maps.
  
• Fixed a bug where ammo icons on vehicles a player has been in would still be visible even after they changed teams.
  
• Fixed a few bugs with VFX for the wire-guided ATGMs.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused camera clipping when reloading in the IMF/INS Technical Kornet Car’s gunner position.
  
• Aligned the iron sights on the USA/USMC M4 / M16A4 rifle.
  
• Fixed the zeroing on the IMF M4 Rifle’s 3x scope.
  
• Fixed a bug with the IMF M16A2 rifle on the Squad Leader Kit, where players could not adjust the ranging.
  
• Fixed inaccurate dimensions on the BAF G17 Pistol.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed PLAAGF Mechanized and Combined Arms Units to use HJ8 ATGMs when defending.
  
• Emplacements with an entry timer have been changed to allow instant entry.
  
• Fixed a bug where the PLANMC ZTD05 vehicle wreck looked like the ZBD05.
  
• Fixed a visual bug with the TLF Cobra II MRAP.
  
• The CAF LUV-A1 and USMC Quad Bike now have the correct SFX for driving on desert roads and in shallow water.
  
• Fixed a visual bug with the VDV Squad Leader and Grenadier soldiers.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused helicopter wrecks to make an explosive sound for players who joined the server nearby.
  
• Fixed a bug that could prevent a grenade from exploding correctly if the player was killed while cooking it.
  
• Fixed ATGM tutorial UI failure state prompts not flashing when guidance is lost due to Line Of Sight or Countermeasure interference.
  
• Fixed Beam-Rider "Can Reacquire Guidance prompt" flashing when it should not be.
  
• Fixed several elements of UI ATGM failure state prompts not animating.
  
• Fixed multiple bugs with ATGM tutorial button prompts, which should now be more consistent and easier to see.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented turret laser rangefinders from measuring distances beyond 1.5 km.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause a turret laser rangefinder to incorrectly display a value of “000” when looking in certain directions on certain vehicles.
  
• The rotor SFX on the USA UH-60M Helicopter no longer continues playing after the rotors have been destroyed.
  
• Fixed MPT-76 being visible through smoke on far distance
  
• Fixed a bug where the rally point item would appear to be invisible in the hands of BAF soldiers.
  
• Adjusted the item slot layout for the following vehicles to be more consistent with the rest of the vehicles:
  
  • INS BRDM-2
    
  • RGF T-90A
    
  • PLA/PLANMC ZTD05
• The turret on the RGF BMP-1AM IFV no longer appears to be floating above the vehicle.
  
• Fixed BMP-2M IFV gunner experiencing the wrong screenshake when firing Kornet ATGMs.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused vehicle tracks to clip into the vehicle or road once destroyed.
  
• Fixed a bug with the CAF LUVW C6 Car, driving through shallow water no longer ejects the player on the gunner seat.
  
• Fixed a bug where the backblasts of anti-tank rocket launchers were not dealing damage.
  
• Made several improvements to the alignment sway calculation.
  
• Fixed a crash related to projectiles.
  
• Fixed a bug where the necks of IMF soldiers could clip through their tracksuits.
  
• Fixed a bug where the USMC Rifleman 1's left forearm was twisting awkwardly when they ran.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented some parts of the PLANMC uniform from getting muddy
  
• Killing a player while they are priming an anti-tank mine or C4/TNT will now successfully prevent the placement of the item as long as the animation hasn’t finished.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the “Special Characteristics” section of the team select screen to be inaccurate at times.
  
• Clicking on the info button of a unit or a layer during the voting phase no longer plays the click SFX twice.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the vertical grip of the USMC M4 to clip into the soldier’s left arm when the weapon inspection emote was used.
  
• Fixed a bug where the TLF KNT-76’s scope was not appearing in previews of weapon skins
  
• Corrected a material on the Thicket weapon skin.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused players who died while holding a primed grenade to drop two grenades instead of one.
  
• Fixed a bug where the first load/equip animation would sometimes not play when a player entered an open turret vehicle weapon.
  
• Fixed a bug where the belt of grenades on the MK19 AGL appeared to clip into the ammo box when reloading the weapon.
  
• Fixed a bug where the character model of the USA LAT 01 soldier could change appearance when using certain emotes .
  
• Fixed a bug where the VOIP indicator for sending audio was not being displayed during the end of match and final vote results.
  
• Fixed a bug where the ammo and build supply counter could incorrectly display a zero or empty value even when the vehicle was being loaded or full of ammo and/or build supplies.
  
• Fixed several spelling errors in loading screen tips.
  
• Fixed a localization error with the pop-up that appears when downed

• Invasion - Standardized the capture zone layout for the following maps: Al Basrah, Anvil, Belaya, Chora, Fallujah, Fools Road, Gorodok, Kamdesh Highlands, Kohat Toi, Kokan

Belaya

• RAAS v1 - Fixed a bug that caused ticket bleed for the losing team when the winning team captured the 5th flag.

Fallujah

• AAS v1 - Fixed a bug that prevented light infantry bikes from spawning at the USA main base.
  
• RAAS v1 - Fixed an incorrectly named capture zone.

Goose Bay

• Fixed a bug where players could fall through an invisible hole in the roof of a warehouse at B1-2-3.

Gorodok

• Invasion v1 - Fixed a bug where some vehicles flipped over when spawned.

Kohat Toi

• Invasion v2 - Fixed a bug that caused factions to be displayed twice on the list of available factions.

Mutaha

• AAS v1 - Team 1’s ammo crate no longer spawns inside the repair station.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented some amphibious vehicles from crossing the river near the bridge north of Mutaha.

Sanxian Islands

• RAAS v2 - Fixed a bug where the “Wushiwan” capture point name was duplicated in the wrong location.

Skorpo

• RAAS v1 - Updated main base spawns for better flow.
  
• RAAS v1 - Fixed a few bugs related to boats not spawning as intended.
  
• RAAS v1 - Fixed a bug where the minimap could be incorrect in certain locations.

This new pack contains 8 new cosmetic items for the new WPMC faction. Each weapon skin has a version for desert maps and a version for woodland maps. Here is a closer look at each item in the pack:

For AK101 PushCo Assault Rifles.

For Simon Offense M4 Carbines.

For all M4 Wormpool Carbine and M16 Wormpool Assault Rifle variants.

For G17 Pistols.

The props pack brings an exciting new twist on Squad’s emote system: Now, players can spawn props with their emotes.

Here is a closer look at each emote in the pack:

The flag will change based on your current faction!

All players will receive our new Smoking emote for free. Check it out and give it a try in the Customize menu.

• Updated the mod SDK to v8.1.
  
• Updated mod versioning to v8.1. This means that all mods will need to be re-cooked with the v8.0 SDK to be compatible with the updated version of the game.
  
• Added config options on every vehicle seat to allow forcefully ejecting passengers when the vehicle's angle is above given thresholds or the vehicle experiences a sudden change of acceleration.

We have added translations to the following languages:

• Brazilian Portuguese
  
• French
  
• German
  
• Japanese
  
• Russian
  
• Spanish
  
• Simplified Chinese
  
• Ukrainian

This is an ongoing effort and they may have some inconsistencies, please report these as you see them in the Squad Discord!

• We are aware that the bots can currently see through smoke

This concludes our debrief for the 8.1 Squad Release Notes! Stay tuned to our Steam forums for all our upcoming comms!