Star Wars Zero Company looks like XCOM in a galaxy far, far away in its first trailer
Only a vague release window right now though
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We've all known it's coming for a long while now, three years in fact, but Star Wars Zero Company got a proper reveal today. In case you aren't sure which one this was meant to be, it's the strategy one from Respawn and Bit Reactor, led by former XCOM devs. For the most part the announcement trailer is just a CGI cutscene, you've been round this rodeo before, you know how these things go. Though, it does end with a smidge of gameplay and yeah, it really does just look like Star Wars by way of XCOM, which is likely to be an instant winner.
I'm not exactly sure if "gritty" and "authentic" are words that'd normally apply to any Star Wars media - let's not forget Yoda was literally performed and played by The Muppets' own Fozzie Bear - but that's how Star Wars Zero Command has been described, at the very least. The single-player game is set "during the twilight of the Clone Wars" where you'll play as Hawks, a "former Republic officer" who leads the titular Zero Company.
They're a band of misfits, by the sounds of things, and they've been recruited by Hawks that sees them facing off against some vague threat that could consume the galaxy, or whatever. This is Star Wars, there's always galaxy threatening stuff going on, and this is a prequel so we can only assume things will generally end well - though, in a press release CEO and creative director of Bit Reactor Greg Foertsch did say in a statement that they're aiming to provide "meaningful outcomes" based on the choices you make.
The core gameplay looks mighty similar to XCOM, and apparently between missions you'll be able to build up your own base and do spy things like gathering intelligence. On top of that you'll be able to make and customise your own squad of "authored Star Wars characters", so it sounds like you shouldn't expect Jar Jar Binks to show up.
Perhaps predictably, an exact release date hasn't been confirmed just yet, but it is supposedly releasing sometime in 2026, and it'll be available on PC via Steam.