STAR WARS Zero Company : Taking the X-COM Formula and Reaching for the Stars
Just weeks away from Star Wars Day, and following a massive wave of fresh info revealed in late March 2026, STAR WARS Zero Company is already establishing itself as one of the most anticipated games of the year. Developed by Bit Reactor in collaboration with Respawn Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games (under the EA banner), this turn-based tactical title takes place during the dark final months of the Clone Wars. The "XCOM in the Star Wars universe" label has been stuck to it since its announcement, and honestly, it's well-deserved... but it's also far from enough to describe what the game truly promises. Early play sessions show something more ambitious, denser, and above all, more personal than we hoped. For fans of PC turn-based strategy and Star Wars, this is the one to watch closely.
The game is expected in 2026 on PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, with no precise date confirmed yet. Recommended PC specs haven't been officially shared by EA and Bit Reactor at the time of writing, but given the title's visual ambitions, you probably shouldn't show up with a 2018 rig. We will keep you updated as soon as it's official.
A Project Born from a Late-Night Phone Call
Foertsch, Zampella, and the Spark of Something Wild
Behind STAR WARS Zero Company lies a story that feels like a movie scene. Greg Foertsch, former Art Director of the XCOM series at Firaxis (22 years there, basically an entire career), had just left the studio. He wanted to stay in strategy, in tactics—it’s all he knows and loves. Then his phone rings late at night, unknown number. He picks up. On the other end : Vince Zampella, creator of Call of Duty, founder of Respawn. The message was direct : "I heard you had a game in mind. Want to tell me about it ?"
The discussion quickly turned to Star Wars. Foertsch agreed, admitting later that he thought it was completely insane. Sadly, Vince Zampella passed away in late 2025 in a car accident, leaving behind an immense legacy in the industry. Zero Company is one of his final grand bets. And looking at what the game is about to deliver, that bet was right on the money.
💾 XCOM Enemy Unknown (2012), XCOM 2, War of the Chosen, Midnight Suns... Foertsch spent over two decades being part of the tactical games that mattered most. Now, he is starting from scratch with Bit Reactor, surrounded by about twenty colleagues he had worked with before. This isn't a garage shop operation, not at all.
Foertsch has a bone to pick with how the industry sometimes treats the tactical genre. His thesis fits in one sentence : "gameplay depth doesn't cost elegance." You can have demanding strategy, polished art direction, and solid storytelling. It’s not one or the other. And that is exactly what Zero Company aims to prove.
Gameplay : Everything We Love in XCOM, and More
On the ground, it's familiar territory—and that's great news
XCOM veterans will find their bearings immediately. 4-character squads, 3 action points per turn, cover, overwatch shots, and 70 % hit chances that give you cold sweats... it’s all there, faithful as ever. I've been a fan of the XCOM saga since the beginning, having played almost all of them at least twice, so I know that specific feeling of weighing every decision as if your soldiers' lives depended on it—which they literally do. Zero Company builds on this rock-solid foundation.
What truly enriches the combat is the "Advantage" system, a shared resource for the whole team that fills up as you attack enemies. It can be used to trigger ultimate abilities (triple shot for the Assault class, rocket launcher for the Heavy) or smaller effects, like granting an action point back to a teammate. This common pool forces you to coordinate actions instead of playing each unit in isolation. It’s exactly the kind of mechanic that turns a session into a story you tell the next day.
Enemies that won't go down without a fight
What stands out from early previews is the intelligence of the enemy game design. Separatist cultists have a particularly vicious mechanic : when you kill one, its spirit floats to an ally and gives them a buff. And it stacks. Kill too fast without managing the elimination order, and you’ll face a supercharged adversary that wipes out the whole squad. Clever. Ted Litchfield, the PC Gamer journalist who had 4.5 hours of hands-on time, recounted ending up in a disastrous situation against a cultist turned true boss, simply because he hadn't anticipated this. That’s exactly what I love about this genre : the first encounter with a new enemy unit that forces you to rethink your entire strategy.
⚠️ Warning : Zero Company is clearly not a game where rushing in blindly works. Enemies flank, set ambushes, and drop reinforcements at the worst possible moment. Even standard units are positioned to punish lazy strategies.
The Base, the Galactic Map, and the RPG Heart
That XCOM feeling we adore : plan, upgrade, then hit the front
What I truly love about XCOM, beyond the combat, is that specific atmosphere at the HQ. That moment where you feel safe, planning missions on the map, upgrading rooms, gear, and soldiers. You prepare, you optimize, and then you have to head out and put everything you’ve built into action. Zero Company mirrors this cycle perfectly with The Den, your base of operations. You manage the team, upgrade facilities, recruit mercenaries, and build relationships with companions.
The third-person navigation in environments between tactical phases reminds me directly of The Bureau : XCOM Declassified. That 2013 spin-off attempted this mix of TPS exploration and tactics, with uneven results but a great idea at its core : truly inhabiting your agent outside missions, walking around the base, feeling the weight of the story between battles. Zero Company seems to want to push this concept much further, with significantly more resources. I haven’t seen images of these phases yet at the time of writing, but on paper, it’s exactly what the genre has deserved for a long time.
The Galactic Map offers "operations" between combat missions : non-combat activities (intel, diplomacy, shady cantina deals) presented as multiple-choice sequences. Every time cycle opens new missions and operations with a timer. You can run as many operations as resources allow, but only one combat mission per cycle. Ignoring operations has direct consequences : enemy factions get permanent buffs that cannot be removed later.
🕹️ Lead Operations Designer Grayson Scantlebury explained spending a considerable amount of time on Wookieepedia to identify which planets had a history consistent with the Clone Wars era. Onderon, Bespin, Lothal... Clone Wars fans are in for some real surprises.
8 classes, exotics, and permadeath that changes everything
The class system offers 8 main classes (Assault, Heavy, Sniper, Scoundrel, Soldier, Gunslinger, Scout, Medic) plus 4 "exotic" classes with restrictions. The Astromech Droid class is reserved for droids (customizable via a dedicated builder), while the Jedi Padawan and Mandalorian Warrior are tied to specific narrative characters. A fourth exotic class remains a mystery for now.
Permadeath is at the heart of the game. Except for Hawks (if he falls, it's game over), all teammates can die permanently. It’s not instant : downed characters first suffer persistent injuries between missions until you pay to heal them. If you let it slide, or if the injured character takes another blaster hit before recovery, they’re gone. The narrative continues without them. This means every playthrough can tell a very different story.
"Star Wars is about loss. Four years old, watching Obi-Wan Kenobi die. I want people to go through loss, feel what’s on the other side of the experience, and not just save-scum to avoid it." Greg Foertsch, Creative Director at Bit Reactor (via PC Gamer)
Characters : The Game's True Ace
Hawks, Trick, Luco, and the year’s best antagonist ?
Hawks, the main protagonist, is fully customizable : gender, species (Twi'lek, Mirialan, and others available), and voice. He is a former Republic officer carrying the weight of a military mistake, accompanied by his trusted clone Trick (CT-3301 for his friends). The team also includes an Umbaran sniper, Luco Bronc, whose relationship with Trick is explosive given Umbara's bloody history in the Clone Wars series. These tensions between characters with incompatible backgrounds directly recall the dynamics of XCOM 2 War of the Chosen, where factions hate each other but must cooperate. Except here, it’s written and staged like a true narrative game.
But the character everyone is talking about after the first previews is Runa Blask, a counselor at the Den and a staunch Separatist excluded for political overzealousness. She never misses a chance to lecture Hawks on Republican imperialism, repeats that her time with the Separatists was the best period of her life, and treats Zero Company like a demotion. She is insufferable. She is perfect.
Pre-Launch Verdict : The Game Not to Miss This Year
After 4.5 hours of hands-on time, PC Gamer’s verdict is unequivocal : Zero Company has everything it takes to be a serious GOTY 2026 contender. The title seems close to a final version, and Bit Reactor shows impressive production maturity for a brand-new studio. The close collaboration with Lucasfilm is felt in every frame : this isn't a superficial Star Wars skin slapped onto generic mechanics. It’s a game thought out from the inside, by people who truly love this genre and this universe.
The release date is still to be confirmed, but with Star Wars Day on May 4, 2026 approaching, an announcement in the coming weeks would be logical. In the meantime, you can already wishlist it on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
💡 Star Wars fan ? We’ve prepared the ultimate guide to upcoming Star Wars films and series (2026-2030 edition), to know everything hitting the big and small screens.
As a fan of XCOM for years, I am truly, truly waiting for this game. It’s the kind of title that comes out once a generation. How about you ? Are you more into the pure tactical side, or is it the RPG dimension and characters that hook you ? Let us know in the comments !
