Many of the developers behind Star Wars Zero Company were reportedly furloughed just weeks before the acclaimed strategy game reached players and critics. Star Wars Zero Company is Bit Reactor’s debut release, bringing turn-based tactical combat to The Clone Wars with a team that includes veterans of the strategy genre.
Bit Reactor’s current situation is particularly striking because Star Wars Zero Company otherwise seems to have given the studio the type of debut many teams could only dream of. The tactical RPG launched on August 27 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S and quickly received strong reviews, placing it firmly among some of the best-reviewed Star Wars games of all time. Shortly after launch, Star Wars Zero Company even became the top-selling game on Steam. Behind that apparent success, however, much of the team that created the game had already stopped getting paid.
Star Wars Zero Company Devs Reportedly Furloughed Weeks Before Release
Stephen Totilo of Game File reports that Bit Reactor furloughed a significant portion of its workforce several weeks before Zero Company launched. A studio representative directly confirmed to the outlet that many employees were impacted, describing it as a difficult decision made before the company knew how its first game would perform commercially. Bit Reactor also stressed that the decision came from the studio itself, not EA or Star Wars license holder Disney. Although the company declined to give an exact number, an August 12 court filing states that Bit Reactor had indeed furloughed most of its employees and terminated contractors. Totilo reports that one source estimated that around 80 percent of the Bit Reactor development team was affected, while another said only a small number of employees remained working and receiving pay, primarily to handle issues arising after launch.
Drag weapons to fill the grid
Drag weapons to fill the grid
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Game File’s reporting also sheds light on why the furloughs happened so close to launch. Bit Reactor was reportedly running critically low on funds shortly before the game released, forcing the studio to reduce its active payroll before it knew how Star Wars Zero Company would perform. Former senior technical artist Zachariah Scott subsequently said he had spoken with nearly a dozen current workers who described being furloughed roughly three weeks earlier. Bit Reactor says it hopes to bring employees back with restored pay, suggesting that a successful launch could help make that possible. Meanwhile, Scott said some workers remain less confident that everyone will ultimately return to their previous game development jobs.
The furloughs became public partly because of an ongoing legal dispute between Bit Reactor co-founders Alison Kelly and Greg Foertsch. Kelly, the studio’s former COO, sued in 2024 after leaving the company, alleging she was pushed out and arguing that she was a co-owner. Her claims include breach of contract and unjust enrichment, and she is seeking more than $20 million in damages. Foertsch’s side disputes her ownership claim and has raised allegations about her job performance, which Kelly denies. A trial initially planned for June 2026 has since been postponed until early 2027. The lawsuit has consequently offered an unusual look at the financial condition of a studio behind one of the year’s more successful video game releases.
That contrast may ultimately be the most notable part of the Bit Reactor situation. Strong reviews and an encouraging launch do not necessarily mean the developer behind a game was financially healthy enough to reach release comfortably, particularly when a studio must survive years of development before revenue begins arriving. Star Wars Zero Company’s gameplay and story may have delivered the debut Bit Reactor spent years building toward, but the bigger question now is whether that success arrived soon enough to reunite the team that made it.
- Released
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August 27, 2026
- Developer(s)
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Bit Reactor
- PC Release Date
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August 27, 2026
