Bit Reactor Furloughed 80% of Staff Before Star Wars Zero Company Launch
Bit Reactor, the studio behind the turn-based strategy game STAR WARS Zero Company, placed roughly 80 percent of its development team on unpaid furlough weeks before the game launched, according to a report from Game File. EA released the game on August 28 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. A Bit Reactor representative confirmed the furloughs to Game File, called the decision difficult, and said it was made by the studio alone, not at the direction of publisher EA or Star Wars licensor Disney. The representative said the studio wants to bring furloughed staff back with pay restored, and that the game's success could influence the outcome. Some people familiar with the situation doubt all furloughed staff will return to their jobs. Zachariah Scott, a former senior technical artist laid off in May, told Game File he contacted about ten former employees and each said they had been furloughed three weeks prior. Scott said the studio concealed the fact that the team had been furloughed.