Amid Star Wars Zero Company’s gameplay and launch date reveal on the 2026 Summer Game Fest, it someway slipped by me that the squad techniques sport from XCOM veterans additionally obtained an official price ticket: $50. What 12 months is it, 2005? Not solely is that this what Firaxis charged for XCOM: Enemy Unknown in 2012, it is much less than the beloved XCOM 2’s launch price of $60 a decade in the past.
I obtained to attempt Zero Company hands-on earlier this 12 months, and it’s one in all my high upcoming video games: Zero Company pairs the crunchy permadeath squad techniques you’d count on from its pedigree with scandalously lavish manufacturing values. Its cutscenes really feel extra according to CD Projekt, boasting intricate animations and a big voice solid.
I’m additionally jazzed about one in all Zero Company’s large mechanical improvements: Exploration between fights and again at your property primarily based is zoomed in like a 3rd individual motion sport, transitioning seamlessly to the overhead god view when combating begins.
I would not have batted an eye fixed at Bit Reactor charging 60 bucks for it, and the studio simply might have justified the more and more commonplace $70 price ticket. Galactic Racer, one other upcoming Star Wars sport I’m fairly hyped for, goes the $60 route, and I can not blame its devs or writer within the slightest.
We’ll see how Zero Company stands up at launch, however at the same time as a piece in progress, it felt like GOTY materials. Seeing EA and Bit Reactor ask such an affordable value for it at the same time as a serious franchise licensee has me much more excited. Contrast with Rockstar asking us to pony up $80, even $100 for GTA6 with nary a gameplay trailer in sight, and Zero Company seems like a breath of contemporary air.
It’s a savvy enterprise transfer: Whatever the prices of triple-A growth, it is nonetheless successfully competing with $20 and even $10 indies for individuals’s time and a focus. This is a method to stand out, add worth, and stave off the perpetual risk of a flop launch. We’ll have the complete verdict on Zero Company quickly: It’s set to launch August 27, and you’ll wishlist it on Steam.