Star Wars Zero Company Hands-On - I Have a Great Feeling About This

Star Wars Zero Company nails its turn-based action and storytelling. The Force, as they say, is strong with this one.

The turn-based tactics genre has been around for decades, and much like other relatively niche genres, it began in the PC space, popularised by games in the XCOM series. Although Star Wars Zero Company is a turn-based tactics game from new studio Bit Reactor, its team includes veterans who worked on high-profile franchises like XCOM and Civilization, as well as the underappreciated Marvel’s Midnight Suns.

Pedigree and legacy are always nice-to-haves when it comes to a genre like this, and “Star Wars meets XCOM” is one of those elevator-style pitches that can get both sides of the verb excited. Its formal 2025 reveal was well-received, too, so much so that XCOM fans were quick to abbreviate its title to Star Wars ZCOM. Yes, with the mountain of Star Wars games we’ve seen over the years, good and bad, this is one genre or sub-genre that hasn’t yet taken that trip to a galaxy far, far away. Until now.

With the game’s release right around the corner, recently we got the chance to spend around six or so hours with its campaign via a preview build on PC. And as fans of XCOM and other games where an 80% chance to hit often results in a miss, we felt that it’s our turn to say - the Force is strong with this one.

Star Wars Zero Company

Genre: Turn-Based Tactics
Developer: Bit Reactor
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: August 2026
Classification: TBC
Author: Kosta Andreadis
Date: August 13, 2026

One More Turn Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Obvious Star Wars quotes aside, perhaps the most impressive aspect or aspects of Star Wars Zero Company is how its presentation, structure, and storytelling all feel like a notable step forward for the genre and a team that helped build the modern XCOM games and Marvel’s Midnight Suns. The latter, which used a trading-card system for its turn-based action, really stepped up the narrative side of the tactics experience by focusing on relationship building among the various superheroes, with bonds that would directly translate to what you could or couldn’t do on the grid-based isometric battlefield.

When you couple that with impressively stylised visuals, animation, character, and environment design that suit its Clone Wars-era setting, paired with some of the best writing seen in the genre so far, Star Wars Zero Company has this much-needed layer of narrative depth to match the good stuff you kind of expect when it comes to XCOM-style turn-based action. It adds weight to every new mission as well as the permadeath aspect that sees fallen comrades die for good when your tactics take a turn for the worse. 

When it comes to the tactics-stuff and even the broader structure, Star Wars Zero Company does play it safe. Another word to use would be familiar, in that you’ve got campaign or must-play story missions, side missions, with that in-between mission time spent at your base called The Den. Here you recruit new fighters or manage your existing crew, progress relationships, customise loadouts, and more. Funnily enough, this side of the game is real-time or free-roam, as you run around The Den interacting with all of its various aspects or the main wartable to kick off the next mission.

"Always pass on what you have learned.” - Yoda


There’s a lot more to it than that, with the Zero Company’s mercenaries-for-hire background playing into an intuitive intel-based system that opens up new missions. Ultimately, taking charge of an expanding ragtag group of rogues, ex-soldiers, Jedis, and misfits plays into the more fun structure of the original Star Wars film trilogy, even though the seemingly never-ending stream of Battle Droids and Droidekas gives it more of a Prequel Trilogy vibe. The XCOM-style ability to hire new mercenaries also means that some characters are more fleshed out or integral to the story than others. Still, it was surprising just how attached we felt to a number of them even after a few hours of play.

"The most impressive aspect or aspects of Star Wars Zero Company is how its presentation, structure, and storytelling all feel like a notable step forward for the genre."

Star Wars Zero Company is also more cinematic than we expected, which is naturally a good thing. The limited free-roam movement even extends to some of the main story missions, where the setup is you walking around, gathering intel or simply getting from point A (the landing) to point B (the action). The music too, although Star Wars and John Williams adjacent, is up there, adding to on-screen action, decision-making, and even the subtle moments when you're simply exploring your space station home base.

"Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs." - Qui-Gon Jinn

Customisation and choice are not only a core component when it comes to picking a class, weapon, consumable, and choosing what type of fighter to take with you on a mission, but it extends to the main protagonist in Star Wars Zero Company - the Han Solo stand-in, Hawke. Yes, he’s all about quips with a dash of cynicism and talking about the old days, but he’s also malleable, whether that’s changing his look via the surprisingly detailed player creation tool, or the choices you make on and off the battlefield.

Star Wars Zero Company hits the right balance of accessibility and complexity, where even though relationship building can lead to new abilities and team-up options that can directly change the tide of battle, it’s the sort of tactics game built for newcomers and veterans alike. As a game set in the broad and pop-culture-defining Star Wars universe, this makes sense, and in practice this accessibility translates to an intuitive onboarding system where new features, details, and complexity are introduced in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming or too hand-holdy. 

XCOM fans will be well aware of things like AP points, Overwatch, getting into cover, and moving in formation, limited-use items, and their importance. Here, even on Normal difficulty, the game punishes bad moves, which rightfully instills a sense of tabletop or chess-like chin scratching as you survey and choose where to go, what to do, and who to do that with next. This balance is a difficult thing to pull off in a turn-based game, and alongside the overall quality of the visuals, presentation, and story, is one of the reasons why the first few hours work so well. 

"A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one." - Chancellor Palpatine

Thankfully, as the complexity increases and more layers are revealed and understood, it’s a feeling that continued throughout our time spent with the preview build. To the point where we could see Star Wars Zero Company end up on several “best of” lists as 2026 comes to a close. In a sense, it lives up to its “Star Wars meets XCOM” promise, while also not being beholden to it. 

The emphasis on teamwork and story adds a new layer to the experience, while also making smart choices when it comes to the fusion. One of the best is how the iconic droids of the Star Wars universe are mainly support classes, where they take up a spot you could assign to another blaster, offering tactical advantages and healing that can, and does, come in handy. Now, this isn’t to say that Star Wars Zero Company is perfect or the ultimate “tactics” game. Some of the map design, especially early on, did feel repetitive, aside from the set-dressing that comes from being on a different planet.

"Star Wars Zero Company hits the right balance of accessibility and complexity, where even though relationship building can lead to new abilities and team-up options that can directly change the tide of battle, it’s the sort of tactics game built for newcomers and veterans alike."

Likewise, the free-roam movement looks a little off and floaty, and with the release a few weeks away, we’re not sure if the visual bugs and times when we had to restart a few missions because characters got stuck will be fixed. And when it comes ot the game’s main antagonists, the mysterious Infinite Coil, they do feel like stand-ins for whatever shadowy group in a sci-fi setting you can think of. 

In the end, like Luke’s old man, the good outweighs the bad, and we can’t wait to dig a little deeper, set up some cover, and see it through to the end.

About the author

Written By Kosta Andreadis
Kosta Andreadis is a veteran gaming and technology writer with decades of experience across news, reviews, and in-depth articles. Between Diablo seasons, he can be found creating new electronic jams (music, not the digital condiment) and tinkering with retro gaming hardware.
More from this Author

explore more across our site

We spent considerable time with a preview build of Star Wars Zero Company, and after several cycles, it's safe to say that it lives up to its "Star Wars meets XCOM" promise while also delivering a surprisingly cinematic and engaging story, and crew.

Every once in a while a concept comes along that just screams out at you, and gaming that is becoming increasingly rare. Static Hour is one such idea and we can't wait to see how deep, reflective and nuanced it is. Click through to learn more!

If you thought you'd already locked away your most anticipated games for 2026, you might need to make room for one more. We certainly have after learning everything inside about Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave. Click through for more!

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was a triumphant title at the time of its release. Has its remake/remaster managed to capture that same lightning, or are we actually just reminded at how far the series has come since then? Read our full review for our answer...

Long for the proper Holden Vs Ford rivalry from local touring cars? Project Motor Racing has every gearhead Downunder covered with the free "Aussie Rivals Pack" as part of a larger update for the racing sim. Deets inside!

All-new gameplay for The Sinking City 2 highlights much of what players can expect on this Eldritch Lovecraftian survival horror jaunt, and it's not looking like any sort of frolic in the water. Trailer and fresh game deets inside!

Undercoders' Denshattack! is one of the wildest games you'll play in 2026, and maybe one of the most immediately rewarding without outstaying its welcome. Full of replayability, character and sass, this is a game well worth your time. If you don't believe us, check out our in-depth review!

At just under four hours of play-time in a hands-on session with Rebel Wolves' debut title, The Blood of Dawnwalker, we've walked away mightily impressed with this new riff on vampiric lore. So much so, we reckon it could be fantasy-altering. Click through to learn why!

The next potentially big fish in the Eldritch fishing genre, Trawler's Wake, is shaping up nicely. And while it's likely a ways off yet, what we're seeing is equally funny and irreverent to the genre, which is something we're here for. Click on through to learn more!

Fans of cyberpunk and dystopic media rejoice, your new love is here, and it's as detailed and freeform as you could hope it to be. Nivalis Nights is by the mob that brought us Cloudpunk which is more than enough info to have you champing at the bit! Click through to learn more...

Comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.