Star Wars Zero Company is kinda like XCOM in the Clone Wars. A strategy game with turn-based tactical combat. Star Wars: Zero Company may be the biggest strategy game release of 2026, so let’s dive into everything you need to know about SWZC! From its story-driven, Star Wars campaign stretching 30-40 hours for the main campaign, to how tactical combat, planning at the base-level, and permadeath will all shape the story. Did you know Star Wars Zero Company uses a shared Advantage system in combat? Or that there are eight specializations? Across the main categories for this video (in caps) we’ll talk everything Star Wars Zero Company, from the story, the squads, the tactical combat, the strategic layer & more! Here’s my full breakdown of Star Wars Zero company!
While discussing tactics elements, and breaking down the star wars zero company gameplay, I’ll use the developer QnA, and the recent announcement from various game festivals – sources linked below!
TIMECARDS:
0:00 – Star Wars Zero Company
0:35 – Everything you need to know!
1:05 – 5 KEY THINGS TO KNOW
1:20 – Campaign Length
1:42 – An ‘Authored’ Story
2:25 – Clones & Customization
2:55 – Permadeath & Replayability
3:40 – Just One Jedi!
4:03 – THE STORY
5:10 – Creating Hawks
5:35 – Anakin & Clone Wars
5:55 – The full voice cast
6:15 – THE SQUADS
6:50 – Custom Operators
7:55 – Why Hawks must survive
8:25 – THE TACTICAL COMBAT
10:20 – Injuries & Permadeath
10:58 – 8 Class Specializations
12:00 – THE STRATEGIC LAYER
12:20 – The Den
12:50 – Missions & Espionage
13:25 – Bonds Relationship System
13:55 – Upgrades & Base Facilities
14:10 – EDITIONS & EXTRA DETAILS
14:25 – PC, PS5 & Xbox
14:36 – The Deluxe Edition
14:50 – The Collector’s Edition
15:20 – Extra details and final thoughts
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SOURCES:
The Developer / Publisher Story
Bit Reactor, a studio founded by veterans of Firaxis’ XCOM games, is building a single-player turn-based tactics game set in the twilight of the Clone Wars, published by EA alongside Respawn Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games.
Release date: 27 August 2026.
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S.
Developer: Bit Reactor, with Respawn Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games.
Publisher: EA.
Standard edition: $49.99 PC, $59.99 PS5 & XBOX Series.
Deluxe edition: $59.99 PC, $69.99 PS5 & XBOX Series.
Collector’s Edition: $299.99 exclusively through Limited Run Games, with a variant Black Series electronic thermal detonator (looks very cool), SteelBook, retro jewel case (ps1 vibes and I’m here for it), desk mat, pins, many patches, character cards and a certificate of authenticity if that’s your thing. Pre-orders close August 23, with the game copy itself shipping ahead of the physical edition. Console copies ship physically ahead of release, while PC copies are emailed out on release.
(All prices in USD for the American audience. Regional pricing varies – trust me, I know).
Official Gameplay Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxLUZ1omFA8
Official Announce Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcxnRaZ6slU
Bit Reactor developer Q&A: https://www.ea.com/games/starwars/zero-company/news/answering-biggest-questions
Gameplay deep dive: https://www.ea.com/games/starwars/zero-company/news/lead-zero-company-to-victory
Cast announcement: https://www.starwars.com/news/sdcc-star-wars-zero-company-cast-announce
All footage is from the official Star Wars Zero Company trailers and press materials. Star Wars Zero Company is the property of EA, Lucasfilm Games and Bit Reactor, used here for commentary and review. TY!
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Why does he keep calling them divs.
Not very nice 😅
30-40 hours is nothing in a modern game, really. 120+ hours would be more interesting. Also, the less scripted and the more roleplaying the better. I can make up the stories myself considering the setting.
Can this be played on a console (with controller)?
Release it a week early pls 😢
We need to stop over hyping. Its an ea at the end of the day, not much in the way of gameplay out either. I have an eye on it, but im not going crazy yet
I loved the last star wars game. .
Why? What's so exciting about it? It's just xcom with SW skin. There's no innovation 10 years after xcom.
Lord knows we needed XCom 3…
It actually looks pretty mid. Im not really interested in Star Wars anymore after what Disney has done. The only Jedi is some weird ugly looking alien lady. No thanks.
I genuinely dont care about anyone in the Star Wars universe except Jedi and Sith. Everyone else are background support character, and trying to make them the main cast is not interesting.
Gotta look at the wording here, "one jedi padawan" doesn't mean there won't be a Jedi knight/consular class
Where's the thumbnail pic of Trick from?
No mod support. Lol
Tel-Rea Vokoss? More like Tali-Rea Vokoss seeing as she sounds just like Tali from Mass effect. She’ll never die on my watch
Wondering how it runs on 16 GB RAM, of course there are other considerations like the CPU, GPU, etc.
I would have personally preferred to be running a small resitance group slowly building up through succesful missions and alliances into a formidable anti-imperial force.
Zero company I dont really have a point of reference for nor why I should be interested apart from its starwars xcom..
Watching this they should rename the game 'Star Wars Mandatory Hawks and a Bunch of Randoms'
thanks mate
It's also a bit of a mystery why Firaxis made Marvel Book Club rather than XCOM 3.
This sounds awful. The gaming industry is dead. I've heard xcom developers so many times and let down every time.
I want to believe, I really do. But there are some huge red flags with this game. First and foremost mod support. Xcom was made better and better by the modding community and it helps to make sure the game stays fresh and replayable. Second story settings. You should be starting with Clone commandoes because they did these kinds of missions for the grand army of The Republic. Third. The jedi padawan would not be with you at all. If you are sent on a mission to save the master and padawan is one thing, but the padawan would get orders to return to the Temple immediately if the master dies. Same goes for any other Jedi, except if their order is to help you, but that would be at the very least a Knight, maybe master or best case scenario would be a Jedi Seeker or Sentinel. Fourth. The Regs would not be here either because they are part of the regular army. Some specialist clones would be different cases. Fifth the character selection would work better in a rebel alliance scenario not sure why they did not choose that option instead. Sixth. The droid option sounds awesome, but why would they arm an astromech unit instead of an actual battle droid option? If you are against them, it should be easy to hack one or put together one. The options would be far better than a single astromech. I hope there will be some mechanics to justify an astromech. Like slicing, repair and maybe infiltration.
Can i have a full mandalorian team?
The fact that it will be released everywhere but the switch 2 is a crime.
BG3 "branching paths", that all lead to an ending with less choice than ME3 lol.
The main concern I have is the squad roster size, Gears tactics did the same but because you’d rescue or have the option to recruit people at an averaged level sometimes it was better to fire squad members and then hire a higher level one of a class you needed, led to me not really caring about the team members I had since space was limited everyone was replaceable, meant deaths were less of a loss and more of a minor inconvenience and sometimes a boon since I could bring a new squad member
There's basically been no proper gameplay shown yet. Not even 5 mins from a mission, or the way the campaign works etc. It's less than a month away so that's absolutely ridiculous and yet loads of YTer's are hyping it up.
I'm trying to stay cautiously optimistic, but I've been hyped since the first time I saw this game