'Early on in the 2000s, we got enamored with consoles and I think certain games didn't make the leap right:⁠' Star Wars Zero Company's director has a theory about why old school PC gaming genres are back with a vengeance

‘Early on in the 2000s, we got enamored with consoles and I think certain games didn’t make the leap right:⁠’ Star Wars Zero Company’s director has a theory about why old school PC gaming genres are back with a vengeance | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Strategy Star Wars Zero Company is more than just ‘Star Wars XCOM’—it feels like Mass Effect but with turn-based tactics and permadeath RPG Zero Parades devs knew they didn’t want to make another cop game after Disco Elysium: ‘How people think of the police these days, it’s a bit different’ Gaming Industry New Blood boss Dave Oshry ‘quadruples down’ on supporting GOG after worrying about its future, committing to sales, demos, one-click mods, plus day-and-date releases alongside Steam Roguelike ‘I’m not sure it was a rational decision’: Caves of Qud devs ported the roguelike to Nintendo Switch because they’re ‘interested in solving impossible problems’ Strategy ‘Realtime-with-pause is not dead,’ says lead designer of promising turn-based game Star Wars Zero Company Game Development There’s nothing ‘euro’ about ‘eurojank,’ says Stalker dev—after all, what are some of the 2000s’ best RPGs if not beautiful all-American jankfests? 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Only one man with an ancient disc copy can find out PopularSpring SaleClipsCrimson DesertMarathonBest PC gearQuizzes Games Strategy Star Wars Zero Company ‘Early on in the 2000s, we got enamored with consoles and I think certain games didn’t make the leap right:⁠’ Star Wars Zero Company’s director has a theory about why old school PC gaming genres are back with a vengeance News By Justin Wagner Contributions from Ted Litchfield published 28 March 2026 “Hopefully people are just [going to say] ‘a great game is a great game,’ and look at it from that perspective.” When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. 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From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Greg Foertsch, creative director on the upcoming Star Wars Zero Company, gave his take on the resurgence of crustier PC gaming genres like RTS and turn-based tactics over the last decade in a recent interview with PCG associate editor Ted Litchfield. He also explained why he thinks there was such a long fallow period for complex, simmy games in the aughts and early 2010s.If you love grand strategy, 4X, turn-based tactics, RTS, CRPGs, and so on, there were several decades where you needed a PC to get the full lay of the land, and even then it was slim pickings for a while. You could certainly find these genres finding success on consoles here and there with games like Fire Emblem, Halo Wars, and Dragon Age: Origins, but countless classics were gated by InstallShield wizards and newbie-hostile forum lords who refused to explain what “THAC0” was.That’s less true these days—Age of Empires plays great on a controller, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a cross-platform mega hit, and in defiance of all common sense, Company of Heroes is on Nintendo Switch.Article continues belo