A great Star Wars game? In 2026? That’s what the streets are saying. Early reviews for Star Wars Zero Company are buzzing about its excellent characters and fun tactics gameplay, with some even suggesting it should be in the running for Game of the Year.
A joint collaboration between Respawn Entertainment and Bit Reactor, the latest Star Wars video game adaptation takes the galaxy-changing events of the Clone Wars and funnels them through an XCOM-like turn-based tactical formula, complete with moments back at base to debrief with your squadmates and permadeath if you want to experience maximal heartbreak for missing a 99-percent hit rate attack.
The embargo lifted for the initial wave of reviews earlier today, registering the game at an 86 on the score-aggregating site Metacritic. PC Gamer‘s Ted Litchfield suggested Star Wars Zero Company is “one of the best games of 2026.” Windows Central called it a new benchmark for the genre. Not everyone’s praising it, however. Shacknews‘ Lucas White called the experience “weighed down by sauceless writing and a plot with the narrative weight of a non-canon shonen anime film.”
While Kotaku will eventually publish its own review in the days ahead, here’s what people are saying in the meantime.
IGN
Star Wars Zero Company is an excellent tactical game that does a fantastic job of slathering on the same cinematic look and feel we saw in Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi games, incorporating strong characters and a storyline that’s refreshingly centered on non-Force users and a non-traditional villain. There’s more of an emphasis on cooperation and flexibility, and a tighter focus on smaller maps that encourage a radically different and more aggressive playstyle. It might not have the legendary level of replayability that’s kept XCOM 2 in my rotation for a decade, but its lengthy story campaign is more than worth at least a couple of playthroughs before you can see everything and get the hang of its nuanced combat and synergies. – Dan StapletonÂ
Polygon
Not only is the writing genuinely funny and quick-witted, but the game gets across what it’s like to be a background player in a way that more Jedi-centric stories can’t. Members of your squad have allegiances to either side of the war (or neither), but like most people with political opinions, these views don’t define their every action. [Protagonist] Hawks’ squad isn’t helping the Republic military out of patriotism, but because their short-term goals happen to align. This friction eventually comes to the forefront in an incredibly satisfying way, as what was once background noise becomes an ever-present reality. While not as directly tuned into political happenings as Andor, this story works as a surprisingly incisive prequel, depicting a slow descent into fascism with uncomfortable poignancy. – Elijah Gonzalez
Game Informer
Sometimes you play a game where its inspirations are never in question. Rarely has that been more evident in recent memory than with Star Wars Zero Company from Bit Reactor, a studio founded by former XCOM developers. While it’s more than just an XCOM-like tactics game with Star Wars stylings, the description still holds up under scrutiny – with the excellent tactical gameplay and resource management buoying what is otherwise just a competent if unremarkable story and characters. – James Galizio
VGC
The biggest achievement of Star Wars Zero Company is how much it made me care about a universe that has grown achingly dull and predictable in recent years. It rarely innovates with its combat or characters, but it doesn’t have to when they’re both this well executed. Battles are nuanced games of chess where every single move matters, while the personal stories of each companion tugged at my heartstrings in ways I would have never expected from a title like this. By replacing the light and dark with a demonstrable shade of grey, Zero Company is able to show us exactly what Star Wars is capable of in the right hands. – Jade King
Respec
This is the best Star Wars gaming experience I’ve had in years – possibly since Knights of the Old Republic, which I know is a pretty high bar. It’s also true that Zero Company can be a little ropey and a little rough around the edges. I saw some pretty manky bugs, and there’s nothing worse than mis-ordering a unit because the camera is bugging out. I hope that all gets ironed out somewhat in patches – but ultimately, it’s still a thrilling experience. I can see hundreds of hours logged on this in my future; that makes it worthy of the Star Wars name, and of the XCOM spiritual successor status. – Alex Donaldson
Gamesradar
Even when the game is idling, waiting for you to punch in your next set of orders, laser fire will dance across the battlefield, as both sides lay down suppressive fire. Occasionally, one of these blasts will connect with Tel-Rea’s lightsaber and be deflected with an effortless flick of the wrist. And every time, my eyes light up like a child watching their favourite toys come to life. – Alex SpencerÂ
PC Gamer
Minor issues aside, Star Wars Zero Company is one of the best games of 2026 and a new all-timer Star Wars videogame. While I don’t see it having the modding/sandbox “forever game” gravity of XCOM 2, it is excellent, substantial, and highly replayable. I’ve found it to be a mic drop of a debut from Bit Reactor, a sense that’s only compounded by its crowd-pleasingly anachronistic price tag of $50. –
Shacknews
Man is it ever bogged down in some of the most uninspired Star Wars-themed storytelling and character work I’ve ever dealt with. It wouldn’t be so bad if the storytelling took a backseat to the combat, but this game clearly expects you to be strapped in for both, and took its sweet time boring me to death between skirmishes. I can see the vision though, and perhaps that made the middling stuff all the more frustrating. I too yearn for the potential of Star Wars’ grittier settings made manifest in RPG form, and that’s what Zero Company showed up to deliver. It just doesn’t have the sauce.. – Lucas White
