Star Wars Zero Company began its development life as a pitch for a game set within the Titanfall universe. This detail emerged from legal documents uncovered during a report on the game's challenging development cycle, which included a period where a significant portion of the studio, Bit Reactor, was furloughed due to financial difficulties. Despite these setbacks, there is optimism that employees will return if the game continues its current success.
The initial concept for Zero Company, as detailed by Game File, involved studio co-founder Alison Kelly and director Greg Foertsch developing pitches for a tactics game. A key meeting with Respawn Entertainment co-founder Vince Zampella led to a request for a pitch based on Respawn's own intellectual property. This meant the game would be intrinsically linked to the Titanfall universe, potentially connecting to Apex Legends.
It remains unclear whether this Titanfall-themed iteration would have featured the series' signature mechs or focused on hero characters, similar to how Rainbow Six Tactics is rooted in its own established universe. Ultimately, Zampella rejected this pitch, directing the team to pursue a Star Wars concept instead. Respawn Entertainment, already established in the Star Wars franchise with the Jedi series and a previously scrapped FPS title, was reportedly keen on expanding its involvement with the galaxy far, far away across different genres.
This direction led to the creation of Star Wars Zero Company. The game has since become a notable success, receiving positive reviews and achieving a significant player count on Steam, peaking at 77,889 concurrent players over a weekend. Strong word-of-mouth has also contributed to its positive reception.