Developer BitReactor has been particularly coy about its upcoming Star Wars game. Though it was first announced in 2022, and the studio’s since talked to us about its aims for the game and its ambitious vision for turn-based strategy, it’s yet to make any official reveal of the game’s premise, talk in specifics about its gameplay, or show any footage or screenshots.
It’s not easy to keep something that under wraps in games for so long, and sure enough, this project seems to have finally sprung a leak. MP1st has found a selection of screenshots in an artist’s online portfolio, andā¦ well, it sure looks like Star Wars XCOM.
That’s not wholly surprising. There are a significant number of former XCOM developers at Bit Reactor, many in leadership positionsāand when they reached out to me for an interview last year, it was directly in response to opinions I’d shared about the future of XCOM and its spiritual successors. Star Wars XCOM is exactly what we’ve long suspected this project would turn out to be.
The shots depict a very familiar turn-based interface, but with Bo Katan fighting clone soldiers alongside a fellow Mandalorian and an R2 droid. One shot seems to include a Jedi too, though I don’t recognise them as anyone specific, and it’s not clear whether they’re on the team or an NPC. There are also shots of a base menu that seems to depict an adult Ahsoka Tano in command, and what I presume is the project’s code name: “Star Wars Bruno”.
Familiar XCOM-like features abound, including a percentage hit indicator (Bo’s got a 95% chance to hit that clone soldier, so she’s definitely going to whiff), an overwatch mechanic (though seemingly working via vision cones), and base management (including an armourer, holo table, black market, and special ops).
When we last talked to Bit Reactor, the team talked about wanting to create a turn-based tactics game that was more accessible and cinematic, without sacrificing strategic depth. They mentioned wanting to help grow the genre in the areas of “immersion and storytelling and visual presentation and pacing”āa pitch I noted at the time as ambitious and bold, but backed up by the studio’s extensive experience.
It’s a little hard to place the action shown here in the Star Wars timeline. The clone soldiers seem Imperial, which suggests it’s right after the Clone Warsāmaybe Bo Katan rescuing Jedi during Order 66, though I’m not sure that was something she was ever involved in. And Ahsoka looks old enough for this to be about the beginnings of the Rebellion much later, during her Fulcrum years, and she’s clearly suited up for action rather than in hiding as she was during Order 66.
Somewhere in that in-between era does make sense at least. Officially known as the Reign of the Empire, it’s the gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, and it’s the same span of time the Star Wars Jedi games are set in. Given Respawn is publishing this game, some synergy there adds up.
Of course, it’s possible some or all of this is WIP and not representative of the final game at all. There are some clearly unfinished elements, such as Ahsoka t-posing in one shot. And there’s a general difference in style and tone between the bright and clean strategy gameplay shots featuring Bo vs the darker and grungier base management and menu screens.
If I was a betting man, I’d say the strategy shots are the actual game as it is now, or close to, and the menu/base shots are older mock-ups/concepts that shouldn’t be taken as seriously. But that’s pure speculation on my part, and it’s just as possible all of this is just early work that’s since been replaced as it is that it’s all representative. Or this may not be a legitimate leak at allāthat’s always a risk.
Either way, we didn’t really need a leak to know that Bit Reactor was up to something like thisāand I think there’s good reason to be really excited. Without a doubt this team knows XCOMāthere’s people there who’ve worked on the entire series over at Firaxis before leaving for this new projectāand with Respawn publishing, this game has some proper resources behind it. In the realm of XCOM successors, I think this is the one to watch right now, and I’m hoping we’ll get to see a more official reveal sooner rather than later.
