The game received generally favorable reviews upon release, garnering praise for its gameplay, while facing some criticism over its story and lack of content.

Captain Lindon Javes of the Imperial Navy is tasked by Commodore Rae Sloane to lead Helix Squadron in finding and eliminating a convoy of refugees at Fostar Haven.

Meanwhile, Imperial Captain Terisa Kerrill, Javes' former protégé and wingman from Fostar, is eager to take vengeance on him for his betrayal and is assigned to put an end to Project Starhawk before its completion.

Unwilling to let Javes go, Kerrill forgoes repairs and instead hastily rearms the Overseer, planning to destroy the Starhawk even at the cost of her own life.

In an attempt to defend what’s left of the battleship, Javes personally takes command of Anvil Squadron but is later shot down and presumed dead.

The plan is a success and, with the help of a surviving Javes, Vanguard Squadron manages to escape the explosion while Kerrill had left the battle earlier with her ship the Overseer after completing her mission of destroying the Starhawk prototype.

Initially conceived and pitched by James Clement and Patrick Lalonde to Motive Studio leadership, they were soon joined by Steven Masters to help develop the presentation for what would become Star Wars: Squadrons.

As these 3 developers were still finalizing the single player campaign for Star Wars Battlefront II, a small group led by Ian Frazier laid the groundwork to build the production team.

[11] The game received enhancements for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S,[12] including improved lighting for the former and 4K support and high frame rate on the latter.

[13][14] On September 14, 2017, a CGI short titled Hunted was debuted on the Star Wars YouTube channel, being produced by Motive Studios in collaboration with Lucasfilm, Skywalker Sound, and Industrial Light & Magic.

[18][19][20] PC Gamer awarded the game a score of 83/100, praising the combat and flight mechanics but criticizing the lack of choices in the story and character development.

"[23] Push Square awarded the game 6 out of 10, praising its flight mechanics, but criticizing the overall experience as lacking in excitement and content.