Chris InglisStar Wars Zero Company marks a massive milestone for the franchise as it is the very first true XCOM-style turn-based Star Wars game. Developed by Bit Reactor, a studio stacked with veteran strategy leads behind XCOM 2 and Marvel’s Midnight Suns, alongside Lucasfilm Games, this is a fantastic Star Wars story played out through challenging but engaging turn-based gameplay. I was already excited to play this game being Star Wars XCOM, but now having played through the first 18 cycles of the campaign preview, I am so much more excited for the game’s release on PC and consoles on August 27, 2026. With huge customisation options for both main characters and custom operators, as well as having some really cool story beats so far, there is so much to like about this game for strategy game fans.
Set in 20 BBY during the twilight of the Clone Wars (roughly a year before Revenge of the Sith), the story is set in a gritty, lesser-seen side of the galactic conflict. You step into the boots of Hawks, a disgraced former Republic officer attempting to rebuild after a disastrous operation wiped out their clone squad. Now commanding Zero Company which is a rag-tag crew of mercenaries, a rogue Jedi, outcast clones, and Mandalorians, Hawks is contracted by Republic Intelligence to dismantle the Infinite Coil. This Separatist-aligned cult, led by Kundri Fathom and her field commander Visser, destabilises planets for droid invasions through sabotage, terror, and a biological affliction known as the shadow plague.
While the main story arcs carries over a substantial 30 – 40 hour campaign, no two runs will feel identical. The sheer volume of recruitable mercenaries for hire, random mission encounters, and branching strategic choices across the galaxy give every playthrough a unique path and experience. The build I tested ran smoothly even for my ageing PC, the music is iconic as always, and the sound effects for weapons, vehicles and environment effects were spot on. I loved the banter between squad mates and overall, the voice acting was excellent. It’s always great to hear the likes of Dee Bradley Baker for the clones and, as we have seen from the game’s trailer, Anakin Skywalker will make an appearance and is voiced by Matt Lanter.
Between skirmishes, your squad returns to The Den, a covert base built into the asteroid trading post on the Ring of Kafrene from the Andor movie. Operating inside The Den is similar to the social hub of Midnight Suns, serving as your interactive space to upgrade gear, purchase facility improvements, manage squad morale, and check in with teammates to uncover extra side missions.
At the centre of base operations is the Holotable, housing an expansive galactic map referencing over 150 planets and gave me some nostalgia from Star Wars Rebellion from the 90’s. From iconic worlds like Bespin, Lothal, and Tatooine to obscure outer-rim outposts, the Holotable is where you monitor time-sensitive contracts, balance risk versus reward, and deploy your squad. Meanwhile, Republic contacts like Officer Benik chiming in with commentary and frequent criticism, keep your strategic choices grounded in the wider war effort.
On the ground, firefights pit your squad against diverse enemy squads ranging from standard ‘roger roger’ battle droids and commando droids to shield-toting Droidekas and members of The Coil. Looking up in the sky whilst on some ground missions, you can see a huge battle raging in space which reinforces the high-stakes mission objectives. The familiar turn-based combat from XCOM is here with some intriguing alternate gameplay elements:
3 Action Point (AP) System: Each unit receives 3 AP per turn, offering great flexibility to split movement, take cover, set up overwatch arcs, or utilise specialized skills.
Shared Team Advantage Bank: Attacking hostiles builds a shared pool of squad Advantage points. This resource can be cashed in for tide-turning abilities like ordering orbital strikes, firing heavy rocket launchers, or resetting squad action points without consuming standard AP.
12 Total Specialisations: The roster features 8 standard classes available to any recruit (alongside 4 hero-exclusive classes for story units). As squad members deploy together and form Soldier Bonds, they unlock shared support perks and secondary specialisations, creating dual-class hybrid builds. You can have a squad full of clone troopers all decked out in different customised armour pieces, or a full squad of astromech droids all tripped out with different arsenals. One could be a heal bot while another could be loaded with devastating grenades. The developers even created a brand new astromech droid for the game called BR-1.
No Fog of War: In an interesting departure from standard XCOM conventions, the developers have removed fog of war entirely. Enemy units and placements are visible from the start of a tactical engagement. Instead of stumbling blindly into hidden pods, the emphasis shifts completely toward positioning, sightlines, and tactical execution. There are some missions where it will state that new enemies will be spawning in the next turn, and you don’t know what these will be until the arrive, add some additional intensity to those missions.
Dynamic Physics: Heavy operators can throw uppercuts to send battle droids crashing into destructible cover or off ledges into deep chasms. One of the main characters in Zero Company is Kabb Uppercut, who is a new species made for the game by a designer from the Clone Wars movies. His powerful melee uppercut sends enemies flying. Couple this with the ‘call for backup’ feature and he can provide a free backup shot or uppercut punch to the moves of one of his squad mates.
Real-Time WASD Exploration: In select missions, rather than staying in an isometric view and having to move each squad member further into the mission map area one by one, you can control the whole squad in a third-person view, allowing you to explore the map more intimately. Some of the locations are jaw droppingly detailed and are a hit for this Star Wars nut.
Toggleable Permadeath & Approachability: Despite its brutal lineage, the game is simple to dive in and play even for genre newcomers without sacrificing depth for turn-based veterans. The developers strongly encourage playing with permadeath enabled, as do I. Except for Hawks (whose death forces a mission restart) and key introductory character sequences, your other squad members are completely mortal. If a favourite recruited operator falls, they are gone permanently, leaving you to manage the loss back at base. There is a shrine for fallen heroes with some of their character history, which mission they died on and some other cool information to remember them. Characters can also suffer injuries which might take a cycle or more to recover from so they’ll be out of action. It’s a delicate balancing act of who to take on missions and how beat up they get.
Overall, Star Wars Zero Company is shaping up to be an absolute must-buy for turn-based strategy diehards and Star Wars fans alike. By swapping fog-of-war for pure tactical positioning, featuring high-stakes permadeath, and grounding it all with deep base management at The Den, Bit Reactor has delivered a game that feels immersive, brutal at times, and deeply rewarding. From what I have played, the story so far has been highly engaging and enjoyable and I cannot wait for the full release to see what further hijinks this band of misfits finds themselves caught up in.
This hands-on preview utilised a Steam key provided by EA Australia and Star Wars Zero Company launches worldwide on August 27 for us in ANZ on Steam, Xbox and PlayStation.
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Daniel Agius