Star Wars: Zero Company is an ambitious blend of XCOM meets RPG for newcomers
Screenshot
EA
Star Wars: Zero Company has been officially unveiled at Star Wars Celebration Japan and will launch sometime in 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series. The game combines the gritty tactics of XCOM with the rich lore of the Star Wars universe. Set among the final period of the Clone Wars, Zero Company doesn’t shy away from punishing difficulty but also aims to introduce new players to the tactics genre.
“Our vision for Star Wars Zero Company is grounded in gameplay design pillars that weave in the immersive Star Wars galaxy with engaging turn-based tactics gameplay,” said Greg Foertsch, CEO and Creative Director at Bit Reactor. “It’s our aim to deliver a game with an original Star Wars story from the Clone Wars era that has meaningful outcomes from player choices, and deep turn-based tactical combat with an approachable and cinematic presentation.”
Zero Company has a noteworthy pedigree that gives us high hopes for the game. Developed in collaboration with Bit Reactor — a studio made up of Firaxis veterans — as well as Respawn Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games, the staff is full of people who know the genre inside and out and who also love Star Wars.
You’ll develop your squad and recruit soldiers as the campaign goes on, and because permadeath is a factor, the story will change if you lose someone on the battlefield. Don’t let that scare you away, though; you can disable permadeath to make the game more approachable. Between missions, you’ll build up a base of operations that lets you customize your squad and unlock different perks to assist you in battle.
The main character of the game is named Hawks, and from what Foertsch says, it sounds like Zero Company works some RPG-like elements into the game. “Hawks’ appearance and combat class can be fully customized, while recruited operatives can be personalized from a range of original Star Wars character classes and species. Tailor squadmates’ appearances, load-outs, and abilities across a wide variety of character archetypes, including Clone Troopers, astromechs and even a Jedi. While in the field, members of Zero Company will forge bonds between them to unlock powerful combat synergies that can turn the tide of battle. With near-endless possibilities and high-stakes encounters that could change the fate of the galaxy, players will need intense preparation, adept strategy, and the right squad to succeed.”
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With EA’s Star Wars shooter canceled, it’s time to revisit a classic
Amid a layoff wave at the end of February, EA canceled a Star Wars first-person shooter that was in development at Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment. Considering this is a genre that Star Wars once dominated, as well as Respawn’s mastery with games like Titanfall 2, the news especially stung, even if it’s small potatoes next to all the jobs lost in EA’s layoffs. If you’re yearning for a Star Wars FPS and don’t want to wait for the Star Wars: Battlefront remaster launching later this month, you’re in luck.
On February 28, the Atari-owned Nightdive Studios released Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster. Employing the proprietary KEX Engine used on remasters of classic Turok and Quake games, Nightdive enhanced the 1995 MS-DOS and Macintosh shooter that follows the escapades of Rebel mercenary Kyle Katarn. Playing this game for the first time in 2024, I’ve found that it still holds up immaculately and is worth checking out if you’re worried about the future of Star Wars games.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the culmination of the series’ rocky gaming history
I’ve played Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Coruscant heist opening multiple times at this point, and every time I play it, I can’t help but think about what could’ve been with Star Wars 1313, the franchise’s most infamous canceled game.
The idea of an Uncharted-like game about Boba Fett fighting throughout the Coruscant underworld is such an excellent pitch that I’ve grieved the loss of a game I never even had a chance to play for over a decade. Playing through Survivor’s opening doesn’t elicit feelings of disappointment about 1313, though. Instead, I feel happy that at least some fraction of that idea was able to be realized.
Survivor’s Metroidanvia-like level design and Lightsaber-and-Force-based combat are much different than what was promised from 1313. However, the idea of cleverly climbing and fighting across a seedy-looking level of Coruscant during a heist was still realized. Reflecting on the lost project ahead of this year’s Star Wars Day, I had a revelation about Respawn Entertainment’s latest game. Despite technically being a sequel to just Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor feels like the culmination of over a decade of Star Wars games, both released and canceled, that came before.
A walk through Star Wars gaming history
Growing up, two of my favorite video games were the original Star Wars: Battlefront II and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. To this day, 2005’s Battlefront II is my favorite game of all time, not only because of all the great memories that I had with it but also because it feels like an authentic Star Wars simulator where multiple eras, planets, and characters are preserved in incredible detail. Survivor feels like it has the same keen attention to detail.
Players may not visit as many planets as they do in Battlefront II, but each location in Survivor is densely packed with content and immaculately packed with detailed environments and characters that faithfully represent the High Republic, prequel, and Imperial eras. While the aesthetics feel as detailed as Battlefront, the gameplay fantasy pulls more from The Force Unleashed.
All Stim upgrade locations in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Just like Fallen Order before it, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has many Souls-like elements. Outside of the general flow of combat, and the way Meditation Points work, Stims are essentially analogous to your Estus flas — a limited healing resource that you can only replenish by resting. You will only start with a meager two Stims, leaving you with very little room for error even on low-difficulty settings. Thankfully, Stim Upgrades allow you to increase that number by one for each you manage to find. Given how powerful these are, you’ll want to gather up as many as possible to ensure your survival in the galaxy far, far away. If The Force isn’t so strong with you, allow us to guide you to all the Stim Upgrade locations in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
We will outline where to find each Stim organized by the planet they’re on, so minor spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen every planet in the game yet.
All Stim Upgrades on Coruscant
Undercity Meats
