How Vince Zampella Steered a Titanfall Tactics Game Into Star Wars Success

Star Wars Zero Company wasn't always destined for the Star Wars universe. Game File's investigation into Bit Reactor's lawsuit documents reveals director Greg Foertsch and co-founder Alison Kelly pitched a tactics game directly to Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella, who requested they build it around the Titanfall IP instead. The Titanfall-connected pitch would have tied into Apex Legends' universe, though details on mech inclusion or hero character focus remained unclear. Zampella rejected that direction and pivoted the team toward Star Wars—a franchise where Respawn already held significant creative control through the Jedi games. That decision transformed the project. Zero Company launched to critical acclaim and peaked at 77,889 concurrent players on Steam, becoming one of 2026's surprise hits.