Star Wars Zero Company Studio Quietly Furloughed Most Staff Before Launch

Bit Reactor, the developer behind Star Wars Zero Company, furloughed the majority of its workforce just before the game's release. Despite the game's critical acclaim and current bestseller status on Steam, the celebration has been dampened by news about the team's fate.

A report from Game File highlights comments by former Bit Reactor employee Zachariah Scott, who accused the company of 'concealing the fact that the team was furloughed weeks ago' while CEO Greg Foertsch was at Gamescom last week discussing the studio's next project.

Bit Reactor has confirmed to Game File that many staff are on furlough, though exact numbers remain unclear. The report suggests about 80% of the studio is currently on unpaid leave, leaving only a small crew to handle post-launch issues. It's believed the studio ran out of funds to pay employees shortly before launch, despite hopes of securing another game deal and efforts to cut costs through 'austerity' measures.

The furlough came to light amid a messy legal dispute between Bit Reactor's former COO Alison Kelly and Foertsch. Kelly, a co-founder, alleges she was forced out by Foertsch and left without compensation for her stake. Foertsch denies this and has countersued, with a trial set for early 2027.

An intriguing detail is that Zero Company was reportedly made possible because Kelly got the project in front of the late Respawn and EA executive Zince Zampella, who initially considered it as a Titanfall spinoff before suggesting a Star Wars setting instead.

Whether Zero Company's success can save the studio and its team is uncertain, as Bit Reactor has not commented on how well the game must perform commercially to bring staff back.

In IGN's review of Star Wars Zero Company, which scored 9/10, we wrote: 'Star Wars Zero Company is an excellent tactical game that does a fantastic job of slathering on the same cinematic look and feel we saw in Respawn's Star Wars Jedi games, incorporating strong characters and a storyline that's refreshingly centered on non-Force users and a non-traditional villain.'