For those contemplating a journey into the universe of Star Wars Zero Company, it’s essential to weigh the potential rewards against the challenges that lie ahead. With an impressive aggregate critic score of 85 on Metacritic, this title stands out as one of the most acclaimed Star Wars games in recent memory. Its narrative and gameplay are crafted with precision, resembling a tactical experience akin to X-COM, featuring characters that linger in the memory long after the game is turned off. However, beneath this polished exterior lies a troubling technical reality.
Technical Troubles Amidst Tactical Triumphs
On the PC front, Zero Company exhibits the telltale signs of a problematic Unreal Engine 5 launch. My system, equipped with a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, RTX 5060 Ti, and 16GB of RAM, has been plagued by persistent traversal stutters and input lag when utilizing a mouse and keyboard. Additionally, I encountered a bug that necessitated restarting the same mission on two separate occasions. While some may argue that my setup is merely a step above an RTX 3070, even players with more robust GPUs, such as the RTX 5090, have voiced similar concerns regarding performance. On Steam, the game boasts a “mostly positive” rating from nearly 9,000 reviews, yet a common thread runs through them: reports of stuttering, game-breaking bugs, and crashes.
One particularly disheartened player shared their experience, stating, “Started off having a great time. Then came the crashes. Crashed almost every hour, so needed to save every few minutes. On the times I forgot to save, I had to replay the entire section again. Of course, it only ever crashed as I was about to complete a mission.” Console players are not exempt from these frustrations, with similar issues reported across Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 platforms. YouTuber Daniel Owen has also highlighted the game’s PC challenges in a recent video.
The gaming experience mirrors that of another recent Unreal Engine 5 title, Jedi: Survivor, which was similarly marred by technical difficulties upon its release. As previously noted, that game suffered from frequent traversal and shader compilation stutters, impacting even high-end systems. NVIDIA users faced additional woes, as the game launched without DLSS support. Despite numerous patches, Jedi: Survivor continues to experience stuttering issues, leading many to question whether it will ever achieve a smooth gameplay experience. The lack of recent updates from Respawn Entertainment, the developer behind Jedi: Survivor, has further dampened hopes for improvement.
Regrettably, confidence in Zero Company receiving adequate post-launch support is waning. Although both titles were published by Electronic Arts, the former is the product of independent studio Bit Reactor, which faces uncertain prospects based on the game’s sales performance.
Recent reports indicate that Bit Reactor has furloughed a significant portion of its workforce just weeks prior to Zero Company’s release on August 27. According to sources, as much as 80 percent of the studio’s employees are currently unpaid, leaving only a small team to address any post-launch bugs. A spokesperson for Bit Reactor expressed hope of reinstating furloughed employees with restored pay, although many staff members remain skeptical about this promise, regardless of the game’s commercial success. Compounding these challenges is an ongoing legal dispute among the studio’s co-founders, which is not set to go to trial until early 2027.
While Bit Reactor’s remaining team may be striving to resolve the myriad bugs and performance issues plaguing Zero Company, the studio’s public communication has not instilled confidence. On the day of the game’s release, a post on Steam’s Community forums acknowledged “emerging issues (crashes and CPU threading)” and promised fixes. However, this statement was made before the news of staffing cuts broke, and no further updates have been issued since. Attempts to reach EA and Bit Reactor for clarification on post-release support have gone unanswered.
For those considering a purchase of Zero Company, it is crucial to recognize that the game may not evolve beyond its current state. While some might view this perspective as overly pessimistic, it’s worth noting that it took Respawn, a studio with the full financial backing of EA, a year and a half to stabilize Jedi: Survivor. In contrast, indie studio Cold Symmetry recently demonstrated the potential for swift updates with its game Mortal Shell II, which received a substantial “Week One” update just days before Zero Company launched. These comparisons highlight the difficult road ahead for Bit Reactor, especially given its current staffing limitations.
