"XCOM" meets "Star Wars": EA develops turn-based game "Zero Company"

'Star Wars' fans are getting a turn-based tactics game in the 'XCOM' style: EA has announced 'Star Wars Zero Company'. So far, there is hardly any information about the title, which will be shown in motion for the first time on April 19 as part of the Star Wars Celebration –. So far, there is only one official artwork.

It has been known for some time that a “Star Wars” game with turn-based tactics is being developed. The title will be the first project from independent studio Bit Reactor, which, according to an interview with PC Gamer, is partly made up of former Firaxis developers who worked on the legendary 'XCOM' series. According to the interview, 15 people, or around a third of the studio, have an “XCOM” past.

Bit Reactor is working together with the Respawn studio for “Star Wars Zero Company”. The EA subsidiary has made a name for itself with the “Titanfall” games and has recently worked on titles in the “Star Wars” universe with “Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order” and “Jedi Survivor”.

Respawn Entertainment is therefore acting as publisher for “Star Wars Zero Company” at – although the studio itself is a subsidiary of EA. So there is no way around the US games publisher, which held an exclusive license for “Star Wars” games for a long time.

Leaked screenshots

In a small snippet of text on the website, “Star Wars Zero Company” is described as a “turn-based tactics game for single players”. There are no official screenshots. However, the first supposed images from the title, which appear to be authentic and are supposed to represent an older build, were shown on X a few weeks ago.

They show game scenes that are indeed very reminiscent of “XCOM”: Some characters apparently have an “Overwatch” ability that allows them to monitor an area of the game map and fire in the event of an enemy attack. Whether an enemy is hit or not is indicated as a probability, just like in “XCOM”. And apparently there will even be a base to which players can retreat between missions.

“Star Wars Zero Company” is to be released for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.

(dahe)