Star Wars: Zero Company, developed by Bit Reactor with Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts, releases August 27, 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S for $50/£40. The game is an XCOM-style tactics title set during the twilight of the Republic and the Clone Wars, casting players as Hawks, a disgraced Republic officer leading a mercenary outfit called Zero Company. The PC version is available to preload now at roughly 34GB.
At the time of writing, the game holds a Metacritic score of 86, placing it among the top five best-reviewed Star Wars games according to that aggregator, tied with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 and trailing Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast (89), Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2 (90), Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 (91), and Knights of the Old Republic (94).
Several outlets singled out the story as a standout. IGN's Dan Stapleton, in a 9/10 review, called Zero Company "far more than a simple Star Wars reskin of XCOM" and praised it as one of the best Star Wars stories since Rogue One, crediting much of that to the villain Fathom and her relationship with her henchman son. PC Gamer's Ted Litchfield, scoring the game 90, similarly compared its narrative to Rogue One, Knights of the Old Republic, and TIE Fighter, describing a 'family of friends' ensemble cast and story beats that landed as heavy blows. Polygon's review argued the game meaningfully explores the flawed, messy nature of the Republic during this era, likening its political undertones to Andor, though less directly focused on politics.
Not every critic agreed on the story's strength. Game Informer's James Galizio, in an 8/10 review, called the narrative and characters "competent if unremarkable," while still praising the game's RPG systems and mission design. GamesRadar's Alex Spencer, awarding four stars, said Zero Company doesn't do much to evolve the tactics genre but argued its Star Wars setting and production values make it worthwhile regardless.
On gameplay, reviewers highlighted deep RPG buildcrafting, including a multiclassing system that lets players combine character classes for unique synergies, as praised by both PC Gamer and Polygon. Permadeath returns as a tension-building mechanic borrowed from XCOM, requiring three cumulative injuries before a character is lost for good, according to GamesRadar and Polygon. Mission design was also frequently praised, with Game Informer citing standout levels that combine combat with escape scenarios, and PC Gamer describing 'gimmick battles' with escalating hazards like strafing droid bombers.
Multiple outlets noted technical rough edges. GamesRadar, PC Gamer, and Polygon all reported bugs including stuttering frame rates, animation and camera issues, inconsistent overwatch line-of-sight detection, and occasional crashes or freezes, with Polygon noting one freeze cost nearly an hour of progress. EA has promised a day-one patch to address some of these issues, though reviewers noted the problems persisted through their review periods.