Electronic ArtsOutside of the films, the Star Wars franchise has always had a strange relationship with the canonocity of everything else. Back in 2014, the widespread retcon of the Expanded Universe after Lucasfilm’s purchase by the Walt Disney Company is probably the biggest example of SW canon being overhauled; though it’s also true that the various books and comics of the 1990s were never really canon anyway. Since the dawn of Rebels and the return of Star Wars to Marvel comics, Star Wars has tried out an “everything counts” approach to new material, and yet, there are plenty of examples of projects that are explicitly not part of the mainline canon. Star Wars: Visions and the recent anime spinoff The Ninth Jedi are the easy examples, as well as the non-canon status of the various Star Wars LEGO movies and specials.But it's not just Disney television shows that have explored outside the blurry lines of canon – video games, especially those released before the Disney era, are a mixed bag as to whether or not they fit into established lore. Beloved entries like Knights of the Old Republic and The Force Unleashed are officially de-canonized, with bits and pieces of them stripped for parts and slowly making their way back into mainline mythos. Which brings us to the just-released Star Wars Zero Company, the action-strategy game developed by Bit Reactor and published by Electronic Arts.Is Zero Company real deal Star Wars canon or what?Along with introducing us to a new group of soon-to-be fan-favorites, Zero Company checks back in with characters and situations from across the Clone Wars era. | Electronic ArtsIs Star Wars Zero Company Canon?The short answer is, yes, Star Wars Zero Company is seemingly official canon (unless Lucasfilm or Bit Reactor says otherwise). The game is set in 19 BBY, during the final year of the Clone Wars, and follows the titular Zero Company – a team of mercenaries assembled by former Republic official Captain Hawks, who are recruited by his former employer to investigate the Infinite Coil, a cult aligned with the Separatist faction and in possession of the immensely dangerous Shadow Plague. While this is, naturally, the first time we hear of the Infinite Coil or Zero Company, the Clone Wars setting is clearly a recognizable era in the franchise and gives us an opportunity to run into a few key familiar players. So why is Zero Company canon? Mostly because there’s nothing in the game’s setup that contradicts what we know about the time in the Clone Wars, at all.How Does Zero Company Fit Into the Clone Wars timeline?Much in the vein of the XCOM games or other turn-based tactics games, Zero Company puts you in control of a squad of characters who engage in mission combat, but although the game’s core group of controllable characters are wholly original, there are a lot of other recognizable characters that root the game’s experience in the timeline. There are brief missions that allow people like Anakin Skywalker or Captain Rex to join your squadron, which contribute to the overall feeling that you are immersed in the conflict of the Clone Wars from an as-of-yet unseen vantage. Even outside of playable characters, there are name drops and references to other Star Wars properties sprinkled throughout the game, including a mention of Skoova Stev, a fisherman and supporting character from 2023’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, as well as a full-on appearance from Trilla, the villainous Second Sister from the original Jedi: Fallen Order.Trilla is a tragic antagonist in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Zero Company somehow doesn’t lose that emotional weight while bringing her over. | Electronic ArtsBut outside of just characters, the game explores the full breadth of the galaxy’s slow transition away from the Clone Wars to the horror of the Galactic Empire. One of the game’s playable characters, Trick, is a discharged clone trooper who succumbs to his inhibitor chip when Order 66 is enacted, and although his chip is able to be removed, the second half of the game illustrates the fascist takeover by Emperor Palpatine from the perspective of a group that thought they could ignore the politics of the galaxy. Setting Zero Company towards the end of the Clone Wars is a best-of-both-worlds decision that allows players to see one of the defining events of the franchise’s timeline outside of the usual lenses.Star Wars Zero Company is currently available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.