Battlefield 4 players can now form squads of up to five players and head into multiplayer matches together with the launch of Squad Join Beta, according to a post on the Battlefield blog.
With the Squad Join Beta feature, players and four of their friends can deploy directly into matches together and are guaranteed to retain their grouping throughout rounds. Currently the beta is available for PlayStation 3, PlayStaton 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions of the game, but not Windows PC.
Developer DICE notes that this is only the first iteration of the Squad Join feature and changes will be made throughout the beta based on player feedback. DICE hopes to launch the final version of the feature this summer alongside the Dragon's Teeth DLC. The feature is only available in Conquest, Domination, Obliteration, Rush and Team Deathmatch game modes at this time, but DICE plans to support all maps and game modes with the complete version of Squad Join.
The above tutorial video demonstrates how to get started with Squad Join Beta. On the multiplayer menu, players can select "Squad Join Beta" to select from existing squads or create a new one, with squad leaders indicated by a star. Once a squad is set up, selecting the quickmatch feature will drop players right into the game together. Players can re-enter a squad after leaving if there is a free slot, which will drop them into the squad and the squad's current match at the same time.
Battlefield 4 launched last October — for more details on the game's rocky launch and subsequent patches and DLC, check out our StoryStream.
Update: A representative for DICE told Polygon the developer has no plans to bring Squad Join to the Windows PC version of the game.
"We don’t have any plans to bring Squad Join to PC," the representative said. "PC players can easily join friends on the battlefield by using Battlelog."
