How to Fix STAR WARS: Squadrons Controls, Crashes, Black Screen, Low Performance and Other Issues

Are you experiencing crashes and random errors in STAR WARS: Squadrons? Here are some fixes that you might want to try.

STAR WARS Squadrons has just been released for PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4. As with any PC release, Electronic Arts’ new dogfighting title includes its own fair share of issues. Are you experiencing errors and crashes in STAR WARS Squadrons? We’ve collected some of the most popular problems right now and how you might be able to fix them.

For starters, let’s just say that STAR WARS Squadrons is a high action dogfighting title, the first modern-era one for the franchise, at that. As a result, high performance, maximum FPS, and no hiccups are important for the title. We’ll focus on such issues more so that you can expect excellent performance when you start your first playthrough.

STAR WARS Squadrons Crashes on Startup

This is a classic issue for all PC games and STAR WARS Squadrons is not an exception. Merely because this isn’t an issue with the game per se. The first thing you can try is whitelisting STAR WARS Squadrons from your firewall and anti-virus and check if the crashes stop. If they continue plaguing your game then you can try running the game on windowed mode. There are a couple of ways to achieve that. You can either rename the game’s shortcut target to -w, hit Alt+Enter when the game boots up, or edit the .ini file to run on windowed mode.

Crashes at startup could also be related to your GPU drivers. Check your graphics card settings and see whether or not you have any pending updates. Install them and then try launching the game. In the meantime, try running the game with Administrator rights too. If this still doesn’t work then your best bet is to contact EA’s support board and get personalized answers for your issue.

Low Performance – FPS

Most of the time, low performance in video games is tied with outdated hardware. However, there are times that it might be tied to outdated drivers and high CPU and RAM usage. To fix this issue we’ll need to go over those reasons. First, check if your GPU has any updated pending and install them. If this doesn’t solve the issue close any unnecessary programs and browser tabs since they can speed down your game and give you major hiccups when the CPU and RAM threshold is reached.

If you have installed STAR WARS Squadrons on your HDD you might want to check whether or not that drive is fragmented and if so, try running defragmentation. Note that this solution is a no-no for SDD drives and defragmentation on them is not advised.

Black Screen After Launch

This is an issue that most probably related to the game’s default resolution. Players have reported that when they try to launch the game in 4K, it results to a black screen. A simple solution is to run the game at 1920×1080 resolution and as soon as the game starts running ok, you can revert it back to 4K in-game. If this doesn’t work, you should check whether or not Squadrons is blocked by your anti-virus or firewall as security issues often result in black screens.

Mouse & Keyboard Lag

Since STAR WARS Squadrons is a hardcore dogfighting title, it’s only natural for players to need smooth mouse and keyboard input. However, fans report that in some cases movement gets sluggish. A quick fix is to disable V-Sync as some players claim. The issue could also be tied to server lag which has nothing to do with your system and you should wait for EA to fix the problem.

STAR WARS Squadrons Flight Stick Controls

Squadrons has released with full VR and flight stick support, making it one of the most complete space-flying experiences out there. However, players find it hard to map their controls with a joystick or HOTAS (Hands-On Throttle And Stick). Electronic Arts has released a list of suggested controls for a flight stick which will prove useful if you have any issues connecting it.

To start using a HOTAS, plug it into your PC and set Joystick 1 as the joystick, Joystick 2 as throttle, and Joystick 3 as the pedal through the game’s settings. Here’s the full mapping list:

  • Joystick Y-Axis: Pitch Control
  • Joystick X-Axis: Yaw control
  • Joystick Z-Axis rotation: Roll
  • JOY 1: Fire Primary Weapon
  • JOY 3: Fire Auxiliary Weapon 1
  • JOY 4: Fire Auxiliary Weapon 2
  • JOY 6: Countermeasure
  • Throttle Input: Throttle Control
  • JOY 9: Activate and Deactivate Boost / Drift (hold while boosting)
  • JOY 5: Cycle Targets / Target Highest Threat (double-tap)
  • JOY 2: Select Target Ahead
  • JOY 10: Targeting Menu
  • JOY 8: Ping / Acknowledge Ping (double-tap) / Comm Menu (hold)
  • JOY 1: Contextual Interaction
  • POV West: Increase Engines Power (hold for max power)
  • POV North: Increase Weapons Power (hold for max power)
  • POV East: Increase Shields Power (hold for max power)
  • POV South: Balance Power
  • JOY 11: Menu
  • JOY 7: Radial Menu for Shield Focus / Emergency Power Converter

If you instead want to use a classic joystick, you simply need to set Joystick 1 as your joystick. Note that there might be some joysticks and HOTAS that are not compatible with the game.

Error Code 10011 – Game Failed to Start

Another error that could be happening due to the huge amount of players in the game right now. However, there are a couple of fixes you can try and get the game starting a bit faster. For starters, try installing C++ Redistributables again and see if the game runs. If not, you can verify the game files and try again. If both fail, sit tight and wait for Electronic Arts to stabilize the servers.

This is our list of known errors and crashes in STAR WARS Squadrons. If there are more issues that you are aware of you can try checking the Steam discussion board or Electronic Arts’ support center for more fixes. For what it’s worth, the developers will provide a patch fixing some of the most important issues soon.

Always looking for a deep story, empathetic characters, and a great soundtrack in video games. Hardcore game hoarder and a strong believer that one day Xbox will win the console war.