Star Wars: Zero Company looks like it’s going to be an interesting game, giving fans their first turn-based tactical experience similar to XCOM or the recent Marvel Midnight Suns. This game is interesting because the turn-based tactics genre isn’t exactly known for being a best-seller in recent years.
There’s hope that Zero Company is going to break that trend, but will it actually succeed in doing so? Or will it end up being another underrated tactics game that fans check out a year or two after its release?
As gameplay has shown, Star Wars: Zero Company will essentially be an XCOM game with character classes and enemies set during The Clone Wars. There isn’t a lot of gameplay yet, but fans have faith since this is still being developed by Respawn Entertainment. Given the company’s stellar work with Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor, it seems the developers can do no wrong in the world of Star Wars.
But will good gameplay immediately lead to good sales? Recent releases in the turn-based tactics genre say otherwise, despite many of these games being good.
While turn-based battles are pretty popular amongst JRPGs, it's a more niche choice when it comes to strategy games. Strategy fans seem to prefer games like Civilization, where it’s all about micro-management, rather than just focusing on battles. Based on the popularity of this genre, it seems like strategy players like the constant motion and thinking on the fly, rather than waiting for their next turn to attack.
Then again, fans did want something new to be done with the Star Wars license, and this game fills that request.
Marvel Midnight Suns tried to do something unique with the genre, using a card-based system that would decide what action each hero in your party would do. However, the devs at Firaxis had a hard time making card-based tactical combat appealing to more casual gamers, which led to underwhelming sales. It also had a pseudo-realistic art style that fans didn’t like, though it is worth noting that the game is very good.
click to enlargeStar Wars: Zero Company seems to be doing everything right so far, as the game doesn’t look that complicated and seems pretty straightforward. Turn-based tactics games might not sound too appealing on paper, but not straying far from the genre can yield good results. Just look at Baldur’s Gate 3, which uses a similar battle system and has managed to find worldwide success, though that speaks more to the character writing than anything else.
We do hope that Zero Company has a better fate than Midnight Suns. In fact, it would be great if the success of Zero Company leads to fans trying out the underrated Marvel title. All fans can do is wait for the game and hope it does well.
Star Wars: Zero Company is coming to PS5, Xbox Series, and PC in 2026.