Star Wars Zero Company is a fantastic tactics game with real Star Wars flair, and if you love XCOM, Fire Emblem or Marvel’s Midnight Suns, you will love this too. It is tough, the squad building runs deep, the story is genuinely engaging, and the only part we did not enjoy was the time spent between missions.
We bought our own copy. We played about 20 hours on PC through Steam, with mouse and keyboard, on Normal difficulty with permadeath switched on, and finished the campaign without losing a single operator. We skipped a lot of the optional content along the way, so a more thorough run will take noticeably longer.
Zero Company is developed by Bit Reactor and published by EA, and it launched on August 27, 2026, on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. It is a single-player, turn-based tactics game set in the final days of the Clone Wars, and the standard edition is $49.99 on Steam. Our guide to which edition to buy covers what the Deluxe Edition adds.
A Tactics Game That Makes You Earn It
Zero Company is a tough game, and it means it. Even on Normal, it is genuinely challenging, and every XCOM joke about missing a shot the odds said you should hit applies here too. If that sentence made you wince and smile at the same time, you are the audience.
Permadeath is on by default, and we kept it on. We made it through the whole campaign without losing anyone, but the rules around injuries and death are worth learning before your first mission: our guide to permadeath and Beskar Mode explains exactly how an operator dies and which of those rules you can switch off.
The fights run on a shared resource that powers your strongest abilities, and our breakdown of the Advantage system explains how it works if you want the numbers behind it.
So Many Ways to Build a Squad
This is where Zero Company pulls ahead. There are so many variations and so many unique ways to play that one campaign barely scratches the surface, and that is where the game’s replay value comes from.
The choices start with who is on your team. There is a wide range of species to recruit, every operator has a specialization, and secondary specializations let you mix two roles into one soldier. Hawks, your customizable protagonist, picks a specialization too, and our pick for the best specialization for Hawks is a good place to start. Add weapon mod slots on top and the combinations stack up quickly. If you would rather not experiment, our best squad composition is a reliable starting lineup.
The Den Is Not for Us, but It Might Be for You
Between missions you return to the Den, Zero Company’s base and its take on the XCOM hub. We did not care for it at all, and it is the one part of the game we would happily have spent less time in.
That is a matter of taste, though, not a flaw everyone will share. It is a cool iteration of the XCOM base hub, and it does a good job of extending the Star Wars universe around your squad. If you are the kind of Star Wars fan who wants to live in that world rather than just fight in it, the Den really puts you there.
A Story That Feels Like Star Wars
Zero Company’s story is genuinely engaging. The dialogue is funny, the characters are memorable, and the whole thing feels like Star Wars in a way licensed games do not always manage. We will not spoil any of it: the Clone Wars setting is the only thing you need to know going in.
Performance: No Complaints on PC
We had no performance issues at all across 20 hours on PC. Nothing about the way the game ran ever got between us and a mission.
Stability: No Bugs, a Couple of Checkpoint Gripes
Stability is a separate question, and the answer is almost as clean. We hit no bugs and no crashes from start to finish.
The one sore spot was checkpoints, which frustrated us a couple of times. That is a design gripe rather than a stability problem, but it is the one blemish on an otherwise clean run.
Should You Buy Star Wars Zero Company?
Yes, at full price. At $49.99 on Steam, this is worth buying now rather than waiting for a sale, because there is a lot of replay here. There is no New Game Plus, but new squads, harder difficulties and Beskar Mode give you plenty of reasons to start again. Our guide to how long it takes to beat covers what stretches a run.
Skip it if turn-based tactics have never clicked for you. The Star Wars coat of paint is excellent, but underneath it this is a demanding tactics game, odds and misses included.
The verdict
What we loved
- Tough turn-based combat that makes you earn every win
- So many squad variations and ways to play, with real replay value
- An engaging story with funny dialogue and memorable characters
- It feels like Star Wars from start to finish
- Smooth performance and no bugs or crashes on PC
What we did not
- The Den between missions did little for us
- Checkpoints frustrated us a couple of times
A tough, endlessly flexible tactics game that plays like Star Wars by way of XCOM, with a story and a cast worth the trip. The Den never won us over and a couple of checkpoints stung, but any tactics fan should buy this at full price.
Our full Star Wars Zero Company guides cover everything from squad building to permadeath, and how we review games explains what our scores mean.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Star Wars Zero Company worth buying? Yes, especially if you like XCOM, Fire Emblem or Marvel’s Midnight Suns. We scored it 4/5 and think it is worth full price, with plenty of replay value.
How long is Star Wars Zero Company? We finished the campaign in about 20 hours on Normal while skipping a lot of the optional content. A fuller run takes longer: the developers’ own estimate is 30 to 40 hours.
Is Star Wars Zero Company hard? Yes. Even on Normal it is a tough, challenging tactics game, and missed shots at good odds will be familiar to any XCOM player.
Does Star Wars Zero Company have permadeath? Yes, it is on by default. We played with it on and finished without losing an operator.
Is Star Wars Zero Company like XCOM? Very much so, down to the base between missions, but with its own squad-building systems and a genuinely engaging Star Wars story.