Interview
August 25, 2026
'Star Wars Zero Company': Bit Reactor crafts a galaxy of tactical possibilities with UE5
Based in Hunt Valley, Maryland, Bit Reactor is an independent game developer composed of industry veterans who are responsible for some of the most successful games you’ve ever heard of, including XCOM, Civilization, Gears of War, and The Elder Scrolls Online. Their pedigree also includes reaching the pinnacle of industry success, having earned the highest accolades in the form of Game of the Year and BAFTA awards.
Rather than resting on their past individual successes though, the team has taken on the challenge of creating a genre-defining strategy game set within one of the most beloved fictional IPs in the galaxy. The result is 'Star Wars Zero Company,' a single-player turn-based tactics game developed in collaboration with Electronic Arts, Respawn Entertainment, and Lucasfilm Games where players command an elite squad through a gritty and authentic Star Wars story.
The game, which is built with Unreal Engine 5, is set in the Clone Wars era and sees you deploy a team of operatives composed of a wide variety of character archetypes ranging from scoundrels to astromechs, or even a Jedi, choosing from an arsenal of tactical abilities to outmaneuver and defeat your foes.
So, why was UE5 chosen for the studio’s debut project and which features stood out to the team most during development? We caught up with Bit Reactor Technical Director Ryan McFall to find out.
Rather than resting on their past individual successes though, the team has taken on the challenge of creating a genre-defining strategy game set within one of the most beloved fictional IPs in the galaxy. The result is 'Star Wars Zero Company,' a single-player turn-based tactics game developed in collaboration with Electronic Arts, Respawn Entertainment, and Lucasfilm Games where players command an elite squad through a gritty and authentic Star Wars story.
The game, which is built with Unreal Engine 5, is set in the Clone Wars era and sees you deploy a team of operatives composed of a wide variety of character archetypes ranging from scoundrels to astromechs, or even a Jedi, choosing from an arsenal of tactical abilities to outmaneuver and defeat your foes.
So, why was UE5 chosen for the studio’s debut project and which features stood out to the team most during development? We caught up with Bit Reactor Technical Director Ryan McFall to find out.