GameCentral has a king-sized chat with the creators of Star Wars Zero Company and the modern XCOM games, as they describe the future of turn-based strategy and making an authentic Star Wars game.
In a year filled with great games, our extensive preview of Star Wars Zero Company is still one of the most entertaining things we’ve played in 2026. But then we are massive fans of XCOM and at least occasional massive fans of Star Wars. The former is the most important factor here because many of the team at new developer Bit Reactor worked on the XCOM series at Firaxis, before leaving to create this.
So we were delighted to get speak to Zero Company director Greg Foertsch and co-designer James Brawley about their experience with turn-based strategy games, the difficulties of working with an established IP, and the differences between depth and complexity.
We enjoyed talking with the pair so much we convinced EA to let us have a second slot on the same day, which we’re very grateful for. Now we just hope the full game fulfils the obvious potential of what we’ve already played and what the creators describe below.
GC: No too bad. I was going to say I’m admiring your helmets but that sounds a bit rude. [Foertsch has several Star Wars helmets displayed on the wall behind him.]
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GC: I don’t know if I’m the best or worst person for this, because XCOM 2 is one of my favourite games ever and, well… it’s difficult to define how much of a Star Wars fan I am. Which I don’t think is an uncommon issue in the fandom nowadays.
GF: I think you’re in good company with those two facts.
JB: I think everybody that reviews our game should fit that profile.
GC: [laughs] So what exactly have you two worked on previously? You’re both ex-Firaxis, right?
GF: So, I was at Firaxis for about 22 years and worked on everything that was published by them, until we split the teams with Civ 5 and XCOM, and Enemy Unknown was where I was at on that. That’s where I landed, and I ended up being the franchise art director on the XCOM series, at Firaxis, as well as… I was on Midnight Suns for about two years before I left to do this.
JB: I was at Firaxis with Greg for about eight years. I worked on… I was hired to work on XCOM 2. Quickly absorbed all the mission and technical design responsibilities on that project, so I did all of the missions in XCOM 2, War Of The Chosen, and Midnight Suns. I worked on Midnight Suns for about five years before I left Firaxis to come over here and work with Greg on this.
GC: I’d love to get into that whole side of things at a later date, but let’s not open that can of worms right now.
GC: Okay, so how did this start? Did Lucasfilm come looking for you, as seems to happen sometimes with them, or did you approach them?
GF: Well, when I left Firaxis I started looking at… I still wanted to do an awful lot with tactics games. I still feel like, with Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2, we were just barely scratching the surface of, I think, how special the genre is, and the kind of stories it can tell, and how good it can be visually, and how immersive it can be. And I still… even now, with this game, I still think there’s a giant amount of room to go. But I had left and was looking for existing IP. I think I’ve always looked at everything I’ve done as existing IP, whether it was Civilization or XCOM or Pirates! or Midnight Suns.
