Bit Reactor furloughed the majority of its employees shortly before the launch of Star Wars Zero Company, according to a report from IGN. The staffing decision contrasts sharply with the game’s public reception: IGN described it as critically praised and a Steam bestseller at the time its report was published.
Bit Reactor subsequently confirmed to Game File that many employees were on furlough, although the studio did not disclose how many people were affected. One report put the figure at 80% of the workforce, but that estimate remains UNCONFIRMED.
Most of the studio was reportedly placed on unpaid leave
Former Bit Reactor employee Zachariah Scott claimed the company had been “concealing the fact that the team was furloughed weeks ago.” IGN reported that the move occurred shortly before the game launched, while the 80% estimate suggested that most affected employees had been placed on leave without pay.
A small group of employees reportedly remained at the studio to handle post-launch bugs. The precise size of that group is unknown, as is the total number of furloughed workers. Bit Reactor’s confirmation to Game File establishes that many staff members were affected, but it does not verify the reported 80% figure.
The studio’s financial position remains unclear
The report also presented an UNCONFIRMED claim that Bit Reactor ran out of money to pay employees shortly before launch. No financial statement or regulatory filing supporting that explanation was included in the available evidence, so it should not be treated as an established reason for the furloughs.
Bit Reactor had not explained how well Star Wars Zero Company would need to perform commercially before furloughed employees could return. That leaves the conditions for reinstatement uncertain despite the game’s reported position among Steam’s bestsellers at the time. Commercial performance and the studio’s ability to resume paying its wider team cannot be assumed to be the same question without further information from the company.
Legal action brought the furloughs into public view
The staffing situation became public amid legal action involving former Bit Reactor chief operating officer Alison Kelly and CEO Greg Foertsch. Kelly, who co-founded the company, alleges that Foertsch pushed her out of Bit Reactor and denied her compensation for her ownership stake. Foertsch has denied those allegations and filed a countersuit.
A trial in the dispute was scheduled for early 2027. The allegations have not been resolved, and the competing legal claims should not be treated as findings of fact. The available reporting connects the dispute to the disclosure of the furloughs, but it does not establish that the litigation caused the studio’s staffing decision.
Zero Company’s reported origins and reception
The legal dispute also produced an UNCONFIRMED account of the game’s origins. According to that claim, Kelly presented the project to the late Respawn and EA executive Zince Zampella. He allegedly considered the concept as a Titanfall spinoff before suggesting that it use the Star Wars license instead. That account remains a claim rather than a confirmed development history.
Whatever the unresolved circumstances surrounding the studio, the game received a strong assessment from IGN, which awarded Star Wars Zero Company a score of 9/10. The review score and reported Steam bestseller status describe the game’s reception at publication time; they do not resolve how its performance may affect the furloughed team or Bit Reactor’s longer-term finances.
