Turn-based strategy title Star Wars Zero Company will launch in just a couple of months, a new leak has revealed.

The ever-reliable billbil-kun at Dealabs has reported that the game will arrive for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on August 27, just a few days before an increasingly-busy September full of games seeking to get out the way of GTA 6.

More details on Star Wars Zero Company are due to be revealed tomorrow during the Summer Game Fest showcase, though we now know the game will arrive with a $49.99 Standard Edition (available physical and digital) and a $59.99 Deluxe Edition (digital only). Contents of the Deluxe Edition are unconfirmed, though reportedly won't offer early access.

Star Wars Zero Company is being developed by XCOM veterans at Bit Reactor, assisted by Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order staff at Respawn Entertainment, and published by EA. An existing trailer reveals the game is set during the Star Wars saga's Clone Wars, and showcase the exploits of an elite group of mercenaries, with at least one lightsaber-wielding individual as well as a Mandalorian.

"Command an elite squad through a gritty and authentic story in Star Wars Zero Company, a single-player turn-based tactics game developed by Bit Reactor in collaboration with Respawn Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games," reads a blurb for the game. "Set in the twilight of the Clone Wars, you will step into the shoes of Hawks, a former Republic officer who leads Zero Company — an unconventional outfit of professionals for hire hailing from across the galaxy.

"Hawks and Zero Company are recruited for an operation that pits them against an emerging threat that will consume the galaxy if left unchecked. To succeed, Hawks will lead a team of uneasy allies who must set aside their differences to overcome nearly impossible odds."

Zero Company's late August release feels like a smart move, coming just days ahead of a packed September that now includes The Blood of the Dawnwalker, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4, Marvel's Wolverine, Dune: Awakening, Control Resonant, Silent Hill: Townfall, Onimusha: Way of the Sword and the Switch 2 port of LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. Rayman Legends then arrives on October 1.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

More and more folks seem to enjoy pitting themselves against the elder gods and other eldritch horrors these days, with releases like Saros and The Sinking City series all bringing some Lovecraftian mythos to your TV. Even the tabletop isn’t safe with the likes of the Arkham Horror card game bringing the cultists into your dining room. Recently, IGN had the chance to check out the latest of these adaptations, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu - a cooperative trek where keeping a hold of your sanity is only the start of your struggle. After traipsing through the jungle and second-guessing reality a couple of times, I’m eager to get back in and discover what secrets there are to discover, even if it may cost me my mind.

Developed by ACE Team, the same studio behind cheerier titles like Rock of Ages and The EternaL Cylinder, The Mound is a reimaging of sorts of H.P. Lovecraft’s 1940 novella of the same name. Instead of being set in 1928 Binger, Oklahoma, this new rendition has been shifted about 5,600 miles (9,000 km) south, according to Google Maps, and 276 years earlier, to the Valvadian Forests of Chile, circa 1652. Up to four players take on the roles of expeditioners on board the galleon, the Tempestad, sent to try to secure both treasures and a pathway to the titular Mound. A special place that serves as a gateway to the otherworldly underground city of K’n-yan. The home of the K’n-yani, worshippers of elder gods such as the tentacle mouth itself, Cthulhu.

After picking the character you will play as, including the soldier Alonso de la Torre, the hidalgo Don Rodrigo de Medina, a woman named Leonor, or the priest Fray Gaspar – and before setting foot on the island itself – you and your compatriots will accept a contract dictating your mission for the upcoming expedition (such as securing a certain amount of loot or rescuing a survivor). Much like the characters from the Left 4 Dead games, while the characters each have unique voice lines and personalities, they all play the exact same. No unique abilities or powers here.

Picking from a pool of possible contracts, which the team decides on, will determine many things. This includes where on the island you will be setting out from, what sort of equipment you will be able to outfit yourselves with, and, of course, what your objective will be. In our demo, we were taken through a few of the earlier contract offerings to get our boots wet - finding some treasure, locating a log book, nothing you would expect to be too overwhelming. At least, that was the expectation. We were wrong. Very, very wrong. It quickly became apparent that even with our fancy rifles and modern (for the time, anyway) equipment, the four of us weren’t the hunters; we were the prey, and the forest didn’t take to our being there too kindly.

One thing quickly became clear after failing one of our contracts: planning and strategizing about what gear everyone will take will be incredibly important. Each player’s inventory space is extremely limited, and each piece of gear, consumable item, treasure, or other resource found on the island will take up your space. We found far more success when we designated responsibilities amongst ourselves, though even the best-laid plans could be foiled. I had opted to be the damage dealer for one run, snagging myself a flintlock pistol, a musket, and a bunch of ammo, only to have the weather change with a storm brewing up, and (surprise surprise) the rain stopped any hope of my guns from firing. I didn’t do so hot that go-round.

Scattered everywhere around the island were traces of past expeditions - rotting wooden beams from old ships, tattered camps lying in ruin, and skeletons of previous victims of the island. The imposing atmosphere is a stark contrast to the natural beauty of the island. Seeing the vibrant green trees of the jungle, hearing the splashing of waves on the beach, and the croaks and calls of the native wildlife, it would be the perfect vacation spot. You know, if it didn’t have so many things trying to kill you. It is clear from the moment you arrive that it isn’t the kind of place you want to stick around in, but at the same time, it could be a paradise. A paradise that the team at ACE has crafted from the ground up – there are no procedurally generated maps here.

Hacking through the branches and vines, I would come across locked chests with supplies, idols, and other trinkets that I could deposit in the wagon that was faithfully following us. Each bit gets us closer to fulfilling our quota and to leaving the forsaken place. As the minutes ticked by, a menacing “The forest will awake in X hours” message would occasionally display on the screen, reminding us not to stay too long. Even when the sun is shining high in the sky, there is always this underlying sense of foreboding and danger lurking, enhanced even further by some great sound design that makes the jungle feel alive.

While the foes of the jungle are dangerous enough on their own, perhaps the larger threat you will face is losing your sanity. Going insane and suffering from insanity is a common theme in works based around Lovecraft, since the mythos is that our puny human minds can’t comprehend the old gods' ways, thus driving folks to madness. In the Mound, the insanity system will cause the world around you to become skewed, where you can’t trust what you are seeing and hearing. And all of this will happen on a per-player basis, so not everyone will experience the same symptoms, if they do at all.

Sticking together as it was recommended we do, I recall a moment where I saw one of my teammates walk assuredly into a viscous pit filled with pikes and decomposing bodies. As they got progressively closer, the rest of us stood curiously asking what they were doing, with increasing amounts of confusion, until they dropped in and were promptly killed. For the rest of us, we clearly saw the dangerous pit, but for that other player, they saw nothing but solid ground with a small shrine.

Other examples are less deadly but no less unsettling. Lost in the trees, at one point, the world around me turned a dark blood red, making it hard to see or disguising one of the island’s undead Y'm-bhi inhabitants wandering the jungle into one of my teammates who had gone off on their own. The latter of which resulted in a surprise attack that left me bleeding and a bit closer to death than I would prefer. The developer that was serving as our guide promised that these examples were only the tip of the insanity iceberg, and I am both terrified and eager to see what else is in store in the final game.

The dangers in your mind aren’t the only threats to keep an eye out for as you explore the jungles of The Mound, however. In addition to the previously Y’m-Bhi mentioned zombies, I ran into an unkillable ghost-bat thing, a creature made of undulating vines that would bind you and leave you for dead (think of the Pokemon Tangela if it was made by From Software), and there was also a giant centipede that one of our party vomited onto the ground and proceeded to chase us. Oh, and if a player happened to die and not be revived in time, they would be swallowed up by the forest and rebirthed as a corrupted version of themselves, uncontrollable by the player, but would seek out and try to kill the survivors. Ah, good memories.

On the more technical side of things, The Mound will utilize a peer-to-peer system with one player acting as the session's host, and the others connecting to them (not having servers may save The Mound from suffering an unfortunate shutdown fate that other multiplayer-focused server-based games are suffering these days). Progress made by each player, including their ranks, unlocked areas, and logbooks, carries over to their individual saves, which helps incentivize teaming up.

ACE Team does recommend players enjoy the Mound with others, though you are able to play through it solo if that is more your style. Both with computer-controlled teammates or purely solo, if you are really looking for a challenge. The contract requirements do reflect this, but even so, the devs warn that playing this way will be a considerable undertaking! For those who plan to explore with their friends, be warned that you will want to pick your platform of choice before setting out, as The Mound won’t allow you to transfer your save from one platform to another. If you change your mind and want to play on your PC instead of the console down the road, expect to restart from the very beginning (and vice versa).

My time may have been brief with The Mound, but my time in the jungles off the coast of Chile still managed to leave me impressed. I’m both excited and terrified of what other sorts of wild insanity effects lie ahead in the later parts of the Mound. To say nothing of what terrors ACE Team has in store for those that reach the cursed land and beyond. Thankfully, for anyone who is looking for treasure and to investigate the jungle, you won’t have to wait too long. The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu arrives on July 15 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, supporting full crossplay.

Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.