Greg Foertsch — head of development for Star Wars Zero Company — has put out what reads like a manifesto, pushing back against what he calls the stagnation of turn-based tactics. He argues the genre has long gotten away with shabby visuals and thin stories by pointing to fiddly mechanics, forcing players into compromises they shouldn't have to accept.
His views are shaped in part by time on Marvel's Midnight Suns; that experience, he says, taught him you can’t hide behind complexity alone — e.g., good systems need a frame that feels alive. Foertsch insists modern single-player strategy needs eye-catching presentation and a believable narrative wound into the gameplay, not pasted on as an afterthought. That’s his pitch, anyway, and he admits it’s a risky stance given budgets, timelines, etc. — trade-offs are real, i.e., aspirations don’t always survive production.
Zero Company’s team says they’ll try to prove the point: strategic depth without obvious weak spots, tech polish that doesn’t neuter design. Whether they’ll pull it off remains to be seen; they sound determined, but there’s a difference between intent and finished product.