Anakin Skywalker's Official Star Wars: Zero Company Return Reveals His True Potential

Published Sep 5, 2026, 12:30 PM EDT Ben Brosofsky has been writing for Screen Rant since 2022 and editing since 2024. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor's in Cinema & Media Arts. Writing serves as a much-needed distraction from tackling a backlog of Steam games that will never be surmounted. Anakin Skywalker's mastery of the Force is a defining part of the Star Wars saga, but it hasn't been put to quite as much use as it could be. While the prequels, The Clone Wars, and a fair number of tie-in stories aren't shy about showing off his abilities, there's still a largely untapped realm of potential to explore. Luckily, the best Star Wars release in a while has finally taken a step toward filling this gap. Anakin Skywalker makes an official appearance in the new tactics game Star Wars Zero Company, and it highlights how much more Star Wars video games could be doing with the character. Anakin Unleashes His Power In Star Wars Zero Company Anakin isn't a huge part of Star Wars Zero Company, which focuses on a rag-tag group of mercenaries fighting its way through various assignments during the Clone Wars. While they do have access to some powerful skills, they're ultimately nowhere close to Anakin in battlefield efficacy. Anakin does, however, end up fighting alongside the squad in one mission. After a prisoner exchange between the Republic and the Separatists unsurprisingly goes south, he joins forces with Zero Company leader Hawks and an Umbaran named Luco to deal with the situation. The player gets control of Anakin, and boy, does it feel good. In a game about careful tactics, Anakin transcends the need for caution. He can fling enemies around the battlefield with ease, and blaster shots are nothing to him. The mission doesn't turn into a total walk in the park — you still need to keep Hawks and Luco alive, and its objectives require some smart maneuvering — but the biggest concerns of other missions quickly fall away. Anakin doesn't stick around long after the prisoner exchange, stopping by Zero Company's home base for a bit of dialogue before exiting the narrative for good. The brevity of his appearance is for the best, as his proficiency could easily derail the game's sense of scrappy survival. Even a single mission, though, is enough to highlight how much potential Anakin could bring to modern Star Wars games. Anakin Games Could Present Interesting Stakes As Zero Company clearly knows, the tricky thing about Anakin is his power. By the time the Clone Wars have started, he trivializes common challenges, and having him constantly fight against only overwhelming odds to maintain some level of difficulty could quickly lose its charm. Build the right kind of scenario, though, and you can enjoy the rush of the Force without turning your brain off completely. Enemies might not pose much of a threat to Anakin, but the weight of being a Jedi can. Design game levels around saving innocents, for example, which is an idea that Star Wars Zero Company employs elsewhere in its story. Anakin can spend all day slicing through battle droids, but civilians in perils can't wait for that, forcing a player to strategize and prioritize. Another mission that focuses on outrunning a bombing run highlights a different source of time pressure and showcases how much you can ramp up the challenge of Anakin keeping his own squad alive. There's also plenty of inspiration to take from other material. The Coruscant speeder chase from Attack of the Clones provides the perfect formula for a vehicle-based mission, for example, putting the emphasis on player reflexes and quick decision-making. Many of the best ideas can be found in The Clone Wars. Challenges like the threat of a viral outbreak or the protection of pacifist cultures require more than the Force to solve, although that certainly helps. It's Time For The Skywalkers To Return Anakin's been playable in Star Wars games before, most notably in the direct tie-ins for the prequel films. Recent games, however, have focused more on original characters, from Star Wars Jedi's Cal Kestis to Kay Vess of Star Wars Outlaws. On the whole, I support this initiative — fresh faces avoid the trap of nostalgia and make the Star Wars universe feel grander — but one new Anakin game could be a nice shake-up. The same goes for Luke, who has also been relegated to more minor appearances in modern games. There's plenty of space to explore in between the original trilogy and sequels, and there's certainly room to tell more meaningful stories than deepfake cameos in The Mandalorian. Disney might not want to offload significant story material involving the Skywalkers themselves to video games, but it might be a better fit than attempting to return to them in the movies. If Star Wars Zero Company gets a sequel, I wouldn't be surprised to see Anakin return for another brief role, and I'd be happy to see him again. All the same, another lone tactical mission might just whet my appetite even more. Anakin has so much potential in the world of modern Star Wars gaming, and it's time for someone to fully capitalize on it. Systems Released August 27, 2026 Developer(s) Bit Reactor Publisher(s) EA Franchise Star Wars PC Release Date August 27, 2026 Xbox Series X|S Release Date August 27, 2026 PS5 Release Date August 27, 2026 Genre(s) Turn-Based Strategy, Tactical, Sci-Fi