How Bit Reactor built Star Wars: Zero Company — a conversation with Greg Foertsch

# Overview Star Wars: Zero Company launched to strong player and critical attention as a turn-based tactics game with deep customization and a grounded Star Wars story. In a Game Developer Podcast interview, Bit Reactor CEO and creative director Greg Foertsch discusses concrete design choices and studio practices that shaped the game.

# Who made it Bit Reactor was formed by many developers who previously worked at Firaxis on titles such as XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2. That lineage informs Zero Company's tactical systems and player expectations for cover-based, squad-focused combat.

# What Foertsch focused on Foertsch highlights three practical priorities: camera design, inclusive development practices, and character work.

• Camera: He treats the in-game camera as a design tool rather than an afterthought. Camera framing, movement, and cinematic choices were handled to support tactical clarity and player engagement during missions.

• Character vision: He singled out Huyang, an established Star Wars character, as a personal touchpoint. Character decisions tied into how the team balanced original storytelling with franchise expectations.

# How the game presents its tactics Early coverage described Zero Company as a modern, polished tactical game with a full presentation layer: customizable squads, strong voiceover, and a narrative wrapped around squad-level missions. Reviewers noted the game places players in the late Republic era and uses narrative elements to amplify the stakes of individual skirmishes. The team's Firaxis background shows in the systems-level approach to combat and progression.

# Contextual note about studio staffing The podcast interview was recorded before Bit Reactor confirmed that it furloughed a significant portion of staff in the weeks leading up to Zero Company's launch. Game Developer appended an editor's note to the episode documenting the timing of the recording relative to the furlough reporting. Separate reporting has since covered the furloughs and their timing.

# Why these points matter for readers If you want to understand Zero Company without playing it: the game is a tactics-focused single-player experience built by a team steeped in XCOM-style design. The development choices Foertsch emphasized — camera as a gameplay tool, broad team input, and clear character direction — aim to produce a cohesive tactical experience with a strong narrative frame. The staffing note affects how some industry observers read the studio's launch behavior and business planning.

# Bottom line Zero Company is the product of veteran tactics designers applying studio-wide collaboration and deliberate presentation work to a Star Wars tactical story. The studio's operational decisions around launch were reported separately after this interview was recorded.