Star Wars Zero Company: Fifteen XCOM Veterans Walk Into a Lucasfilm Pitch Meeting
By OFOKI TECH | August 12, 2026
Greg Foertsch spent fourteen years at Firaxis Games. He was the art director on XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the game that proved turn-based tactics could sell millions of copies in the 2010s. In January 2021, he left to start Bit Reactor, a studio built explicitly to keep making strategy games. Two years later, Respawn Entertainment co-founder Vince Zampella invited him to pitch a Star Wars tactics game to Lucasfilm. The pitch worked. Zampella died in a car accident in early 2026, but the project he greenlit releases on August 27, 2026.
Star Wars Zero Company is not XCOM with lightsabers. It is a turn-based tactical RPG with a fully voiced protagonist, a bond system between squadmates, and permadeath that can permanently remove characters from the story. The game is set during the twilight of the Clone Wars, and its tone draws from Rogue One, Andor, and The Clone Wars animated series, filtered through the structure of a mercenary ensemble drama.
The Setup: A Disgraced Officer and a Cult
You play as Hawks, a former Republic officer who takes the fall for a failed military operation. Indebted to the Hutt cartel and stripped of rank, Hawks forms Zero Company with Trick, a disillusioned clone trooper voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. The team is recruited by a Republic intelligence agent and a displaced noblewoman to investigate Kundri Fathom, leader of the Infinite Coil, a Separatist-aligned cult spreading a viral force called the Shadow Plague.
The narrative is led by Aaron Contreras, who wrote Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor. Contreras originally opposed permadeath. According to PC Gamer, he changed his mind thirteen months into production after losing an internal argument. « It was the right decision for the game, » he said. « Star Wars is about loss. I mean, four years old, watching Obi-Wan Kenobi die, right? It’s about loss, and then also, as a developer, wanting people to not save scum, but to push through the loss. »
Combat: Three Action Points and a Shared Pool
Each squad member has three action points per turn for movement, attacks, and abilities. The squad also shares a pool of advantage points for special moves that can be spent by any character. Some abilities are class-specific. The game features eight standard classes (Assault, Heavy, Sharpshooter, Scoundrel, Soldier, Gunslinger, Scout, Medic) and four exotic classes tied to specific characters, including Jedi Padawan and Mandalorian Warrior.
Missions alternate between tactical combat and third-person exploration. In story missions, players can free-roam through environments before combat begins, gathering intel and advantage points. The game includes over 150 planets on the galaxy map for strategic operations, and over a dozen unique planets for tactical missions.
Permadeath and Character Bonds
When a character loses all health, they are downed and sustain an injury. Accumulate three injuries without treatment, and the character dies permanently. Only Hawks is exempt. The bond system tracks relationships between squad members. Characters who fight together develop synergies that unlock combat bonuses. Conversely, characters with conflicting backgrounds, like Trick and the Umbaran sniper Luco Bronc, start with low approval ratings that must be managed through mission choices.
The cast includes a Mandalorian from Clan Verminoth, a Tognath Jedi Padawan, and procedurally generated Operators that can be recruited, customized, and lost. Players can choose from eight species for Hawks and custom characters: Devaronian, Human, Neimoidian, Ovissian, Togruta, Twi’lek, Weequay, and Zabrak.
The Den and Customization
Between missions, players manage the Den, a base of operations on the Ring of Kafrene. Here you upgrade facilities, purchase equipment, and forge bonds. The game includes a full astromech droid customization system. Bit Reactor has confirmed there are no microtransactions.
Pricing and Editions
Zero Company launches on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S for $49.99. The Deluxe Edition at $59.99 includes cosmetic packs and the Crystalline Astromech Cosmetic Pack. Pre-orders grant access to the Crystalline Astromech pack. The soundtrack, composed by Gordy Haab, releases on Hollywood Records on August 27, 2026.
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