Respawn Entertainment has officially revealed Star Wars: Zero Company, a turn-based tactical strategy game scheduled for release in 2026 [1].

The project marks a significant genre expansion for the Star Wars franchise, moving away from action-oriented titles toward deep, squad-level strategic decision-making. By blending RPG elements with high-stakes combat, the developers aim to provide a more cerebral experience for fans of the galaxy.

Director Greg Foertsch and Lead Designer James Brawley are leading the project, collaborating with veterans of the XCOM series [1, 2]. The game is set during the Clone Wars era and will launch on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S [1, 4].

Gameplay focuses on a tactical tabletop-style battlefield where players manage units under the threat of permadeath. This mechanic ensures that the loss of a character is permanent, adding emotional and strategic weight to every encounter.

"We wanted to create a game that captures the intensity and moral weight of the Clone Wars on a tactical tabletop‑style battlefield," Foertsch said.

Brawley said that the risk of losing units is central to the experience. "Permadeath isn’t just a mechanic—it’s a narrative driver that forces players to think about the cost of every decision," Brawley said.

While some critics have compared the aesthetic and structure to the Fire Emblem series, other reports describe the title as an ambitious blend of XCOM and a traditional RPG [3, 5]. The development team intends for the game to bridge the gap between hardcore strategy enthusiasts and newcomers to the genre [6].

The narrative focus on the Clone Wars allows the team to explore the conflict through a smaller, more intimate lens, prioritizing the survival of a specific company of soldiers over large-scale planetary warfare.

“"Permadeath isn’t just a mechanic—it’s a narrative driver that forces players to think about the cost of every decision."”

The shift toward turn-based tactics suggests a diversification of the Star Wars gaming portfolio to capture the 'hardcore' strategy market. By employing XCOM veterans and implementing permadeath, Respawn is pivoting from the fast-paced combat of its previous hits to a model where player error has permanent narrative consequences, potentially increasing the game's longevity through high replayability.