Star Wars Zero Company Initially Conceived as a Titanfall Universe Title

Star Wars Zero Company was originally pitched as a game set in the Titanfall universe, according to a detailed report by Game File's Stephen Totilo. The report sheds light on the game's development, revealing that Bit Reactor, the studio behind it, furloughed most of its staff just weeks before launch due to funding issues. However, there's optimism that these employees will be rehired if the game performs well.

One intriguing detail from the report is that Zero Company wasn't initially intended to be a Star Wars game. Legal documents from a lawsuit between Bit Reactor's leadership reveal that director Greg Foertsch and co-founder Alison Kelly developed pitches for a tactics game, which eventually led to a meeting with Respawn Entertainment co-founder Vince Zampella. Zampella asked Foertsch to create a pitch based on Respawn's own IP, which would have tied the game to the Titanfall universe.

Game File notes that the pitch was directly linked to Apex Legends, which exists within the Titanfall universe, but it's unclear whether the iconic mechs would have appeared or if it would have focused on the hero characters from Apex Legends, similar to the upcoming Rainbow Six Tactics. Ultimately, Zampella rejected the Titanfall pitch and instructed the team to try again with the Star Wars IP, which Respawn has significant involvement with.

Respawn, known for the Star Wars Jedi games and a scrapped FPS Star Wars title, was keen to expand the franchise into other genres. This led to the creation of Star Wars Zero Company, which has become one of the biggest surprises of 2026. The game has received rave reviews and impressive player numbers on Steam, peaking at 77,889 concurrent players over the weekend, with strong word-of-mouth across social media.