Bit Reactor, the studio behind Star Wars Zero Company, has started bringing back developers it furloughed without pay ahead of the game’s late-August launch. CEO Greg Foertsch confirmed the move in a statement this week, though a large share of the team is still off the payroll.
The furloughs hit around 80% of the studio’s staff, reportedly because the company was running out of money in the final stretch before release. The timing drew criticism once Star Wars Zero Company went on sale and sold well. Market research firm Newzoo ranked it the sixth-best PC game of August by revenue across the six major Western gaming markets.
What Bit Reactor’s CEO said
Foertsch framed the return as progress for the studio and for its plans to keep supporting the game. “This week, we started the process of returning more of our team back to work at Bit Reactor, an important step forward in our continued support for Zero Company,” he said.
He also addressed the decision to furlough staff so close to launch. According to Foertsch, the studio had to deal with “unexpected business developments outside of our control.” He called the furloughs “an incredibly difficult decision, but one that was necessary to help us eventually bring as many people back as possible.”
He did not say what those business developments were. Instead, the statement closed with thanks to players and a promise to share more updates about Bit Reactor and the game soon.
Many Star Wars Zero Company developers remain unpaid
The return is only partial. According to sources speaking to Game File, this week’s recalls bring Bit Reactor’s paid headcount to more than half of its pre-furlough level. As a result, many of the people who worked on Star Wars Zero Company are still without pay.
Some former staff have spoken out publicly. One former Bit Reactor employee wrote last month that it was “a gross but all too common sight to see, another corporate game hitting the top of Steam while the team is left looking for work and cut off from any possible profit sharing.”
The same person added: “It would be such a different story if they had been upfront about it earlier, and now it feels like they’re trying to keep the team in a holding pattern with good vibes and more empty promises.”
About the game and the studio
Star Wars Zero Company is a single-player, turn-based tactics game set during the Clone Wars. Electronic Arts publishes it with Lucasfilm Games, and Respawn Entertainment worked on it alongside Bit Reactor. It launched on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Bit Reactor is a young studio. Foertsch and several of his co-founders previously worked at Firaxis Games on the XCOM series, and Zero Company is their first major release. Meanwhile, Bit Reactor has not given a timeline for bringing back the rest of its furloughed staff.