Star Wars Zero Company, the upcoming turn-based tactics game from developer Bit Reactor, is now in the hands of preview outlets ahead of its August 27 release on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Coverage from Game Informer, Xbox Wire, and a Variety interview with the development team paints a consistent picture: an original story set in the Clone Wars era, built around new Star Wars characters, layered onto combat systems clearly descended from XCOM. The game marks Lucasfilm Games' first single-player turn-based tactics title, developed in collaboration with Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. Here is what each outlet found during their time with the game.
No, Star Wars Zero Company does not have multiplayer or co-op modes. EA's official press materials describe it strictly as single-player, and previews from Game Informer, Xbox Wire, and PC Gamer confirm the entire experience, including base management at The Den, is played solo with no online or local co-op component.
Per Variety's interview with Bit Reactor head Greg Foertsch, the decision to build Zero Company around new characters rather than franchise mainstays was deliberate. Foertsch told Variety that using established figures like Yoda or Anakin risked working against the story, since players already carry fixed opinions about those characters and can't attach to them the same way as someone new. Instead, Zero Company casts players in the role of Hawks, a former Republic officer with a fully customizable appearance, combat class, and choice of masculine or feminine voice, performed by Jonathan Freeman and Erica Luttrell respectively. Hawks leads a team of operatives recruited from across the galaxy for tactical operations set in the twilight of the Clone Wars, including a Clone Trooper, a Mandalorian, and a Jedi Padawan, each of whom can be similarly customized in appearance, load-out, and abilities as the squad's skills progress across the campaign to counter an emerging threat first teased at Star Wars Celebration Japan. Bit Reactor has described the result as a cinematic original story wrapped around deep turn-based tactical combat. The main threat is Kundri Fathom, leader of a Separatist-aligned cult called the Infinite Coil that infects followers with a plague boosting physical strength at the cost of free will, establishing itself early on as insidious, capable, and relentless.
Game Informer's preview, titled "XCOM Meets Star Wars in the Best Way Possible," confirms the comparison is intentional and well-earned. Bit Reactor was founded by veterans of Firaxis's XCOM and Civilization series, and combat uses the same turn-based, squad-level structure built around positioning, cover, and percentage-based hit chances. Each operative gets a move count of three action points per round for movement, attacks, items, and abilities, and a shared resource called Advantage grows as the squad damages enemies, unlocking new combat synergies for the whole team. Missions in the preview build ranged from eliminating hostile forces to rescuing allies and holding extraction zones as reinforcements arrived, and permanent unit loss remains a real consequence of failed encounters, mirroring the stakes XCOM veterans will recognize immediately from the genre's established tactical gameplay. The preview build covered eight different classes as general combat specialization options, including Assault, Heavy, Sharpshooter, Scoundrel, Soldier, Gunslinger, Scout, and Medic, with characters able to gain a second specialization later in the campaign.
Xbox Wire's preview is based on 15 hours spent with a preview build over the course of a week, and the outlet came away calling it "the perfect fusion of genre, developer, and intellectual property." Beyond combat, Zero Company includes a base of operations called The Den, where players manage personnel, upgrade facilities, purchase new equipment, and select their next mission from a holotable between deployments. Xbox Wire specifically praised how polished, charming, and fun the preview build felt for a debut title, noting the studio's XCOM pedigree shows in how confidently the tactical layer comes together this early in the game's life.
Multiple previewers, including Game Informer, have noted the game evokes more than XCOM alone. Wandering the Den in third person to talk with squadmates, upgrade gear, and build relationships has drawn comparisons to Mass Effect 2's mission-and-downtime rhythm, suggesting Zero Company borrows its structure from more than one genre touchstone rather than functioning as a straight XCOM clone in a Star Wars skin.
Star Wars Zero Company exists because of a late-night phone call. Per PC Gamer's reporting, director Greg Foertsch had just left Firaxis Games after 22 years working on the modern XCOM series and Marvel's Midnight Suns when Respawn Entertainment co-founder Vince Zampella called him out of the blue, having heard Foertsch had a strategy game concept. Zampella, the Call of Duty co-creator and Respawn's founder, encouraged Foertsch to pitch a Star Wars strategy game instead, ultimately connecting Bit Reactor with Lucasfilm Games. Zampella died in a car accident in December 2025, months before the game's completion, and Foertsch has since credited him as the reason Zero Company exists at all. That Midnight Suns background shows up directly in the finished game too, with PC Gamer noting the base-building camaraderie, pre-mission exploration, and mid-fight team-up bonuses all draw more from Firaxis's superhero tactics game than from XCOM's colder, more clinical squad management. Astromech droids serve as a dedicated support class built around droid variants with customizable astromech heads and utility gadgets, while story-specific squad members like Jedi Padawan Tel-Rea Vokoss and Mandalorian mercenary Cly Kullervo round out a roster also touched by Star Wars Jedi developer Respawn's involvement. Zero Company will launch in both a Standard Edition and a Deluxe Edition, the latter adding exclusive cosmetic packs and weapon skins.
Star Wars Zero Company launches August 27, 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, with pre-orders already available across all platforms. The release of Star Wars Zero Company runs alongside established Clone Wars events, and Anakin Skywalker appears during the story despite the game's focus on original characters rather than heroes from the original trilogy. With early previews landing positively across outlets covering both the Star Wars and tactics genres, Zero Company looks positioned as a rare franchise entry built to stand on its own rather than lean on nostalgia for established heroes.
Early hands-on impressions are already live from Game Informer, Xbox Wire, PC Gamer, and Windows Central, all based on preview builds ahead of the August 27 launch. Full review scores typically follow closer to release, so expect a wider wave of critical reviews near launch day.
Emerson Gray · Editor
Editor
