Error code 218 in Star Wars: Squadrons - Two potential fixes for the Fleet Battles bug

There are few more frustrating things that being unable to play your new game to its full potential and when everyone is talking about how much they are enjoying it, likes the case with Star Wars: Squadrons, it can be doubly so.

And that is the case for many players of Motive Studios space dogfighting with many reporting receiving Error Code 218 when trying to join a match of the game's ranked game mode - Fleet Battles.

(Picture: Motive Studios)

Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC players have reported the issue and while Motive Studios have acknowledged some of the game's issues they have been quiet on this particular problem.

However, some players have reported fixing it and it could come down to your PC specifications (if that's your chosen platform) or the choice of HDD if your playing on console.

How to fix Error Code 218 in Star Wars: Squadrons

(Picture: Motive Studios)

To fix error code 218 in Squadrons you have two possible fixes.

Note these aren't official fixes just solutions that some players (including myself) have used to fix the problem.

The core of the issue is a timeout during Fleet Battles matchmaking and using the power of deduction it is likely that the game's main game mode is also it's most resource-intensive and both fixes work to take reduce the time it takes for your PC or Console to load all the assets.

PC Fix:

Loading as many of the game's assets before queueing for a Fleet Battle is one way to reduce the initial load time.

1. Load a single-player game or AI Fleet Battle game.
2. Exit the game, suffering no low-priority queue penalty.
3. Queue into ranked Fleet Battles.

PC and Console Fix

Some players have found success with changing the installation drive for Star Wars: Squadrons, with PlayStation players reporting moving it from an external HD to the internal (and likely much faster) HD resolving the issue.

1. Uninstall Squadrons from your chosen HD.
2. Reinstall on an SSD or Internal HD.
3. Queue into Fleet Battles.

It may well be that a combination of these fixes will go some way towards you getting to play Fleet Battles, with Motive Studios likely optimizing through a patch to resolve the issue permanently.

• Read more: Star Wars: Squadrons Combat Guide - Offensive and defensive manoeuvres, power management, focus shield, morale, and more

If any of these fixes work, or you have your own solution drop a message on our dedicated Star Wars: Squadrons Twitter as we would love to hear from you.