Many Details About Star Wars: Zero Company — 40 Hours of Gameplay, Hero Customization, and More
With roughly a month to go before launch, Bit Reactor (see their Q&A here) opened the floor to player questions. The studio shared a long list of specifics about the tactics game; some items are practical, others a little quirky. Highlights follow:
- The main campaign should take about 30–40 hours to finish on average. There will be no microtransactions in the final product.
- Right away, you can fully customize Hawkes (the protagonist): gender, looks, race — all editable at the start.
- Want a squad made only of clones? You can do that, but those units aren’t available from the first minutes of play.
- Hawkes is present in every main-story operation; side missions, however, can go to squads that don’t include the protagonist.
- Permanent death for operatives is on by default (i.e., permadeath is enabled), but you may turn it off if that’s your preference.
- Initially the base holds 7 operatives; as the campaign advances that roster can grow to 20. There are fully realized companions plus simpler filler characters. You can swap and tune companions’ equipment.
- Standard missions use a 4‑operative squad under player control. Some missions, though, introduce extra characters.
- Tel-Rea is the lone Jedi‑Padawan class operative available.
- There are no Romans in Zero Company — yes, that was explicitly clarified.
- Gear matters: weapons and various gadgets affect gameplay; clothing is cosmetic only (e.g., skins don’t change stats).
- Some missions include enemy vehicles — expect vehicular threats on certain maps.
- Official mod support won’t be offered, sadly — the developers confirmed no mod tools at launch.
- There is no “fog of war” system, but the devs claim a sniper‑heavy squad won’t trivialize encounters.
- Weather effects are visual only; they don’t alter visibility or squad performance.
- No “New Game+” mode, however you can unlock certain customization options for later playthroughs.
- Each of the three main enemy factions has distinct traits that will force tactical adjustments.
- There’s no XCOM‑style nickname system, yet you can fully rename and rewrite the backstories of created units.
- The galactic map lists over 150 planets; not every world hosts a full tactical mission, though.
- The game offers a single ending — narrative branching is limited.
- No word on DLC for now; the team says their focus is getting the core game out the door.
- Ongoing work includes optimizations for Steam Deck.
Star Wars: Zero Company releases on August 27 for PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series — note: no Russian localization.