Star Wars Zero Company has the highest Metacritic score of any Star Wars game in 22 years. It is a Steam bestseller. Critics have called it the best tactical game in the franchise’s history. Most of the people who built it are currently going without pay.
A report published on 1 September 2026 by Game File’s Stephen Totilo revealed that Bit Reactor, the studio behind Star Wars Zero Company, furloughed the majority of its staff in the weeks leading up to the game’s 27 August launch. The decision was made before it was clear how the game would perform — and before the rave reviews came in.
Bit Reactor Furloughed Most of Its Staff Weeks Before Launch
A Bit Reactor spokesperson confirmed the furloughs to Game File, calling it a “difficult decision” made before the launch outcome was known. The studio declined to specify how many workers were affected, but a court filing from 12 August in a lawsuit brought by Bit Reactor co-founder Alison Kelly stated plainly that the studio had “furloughed most of its employees and terminated contractors.”
Sources speaking to Game File were more specific: one said the furloughs impacted roughly 80% of the team. Another described only a “skeleton crew” remaining on active payroll, retained solely to deal with post-launch bug fixes. The spokesperson stressed that the decision was made by Bit Reactor itself — not by publisher Electronic Arts or Disney, which holds the Star Wars licence.
The underlying cause, according to reporting, is straightforward: Bit Reactor, founded in 2021, ran out of most of its money just ahead of releasing its first game.
CEO Greg Foertsch Was at Gamescom While Staff Waited at Home
The situation became public when Zachariah Scott, a senior technical artist who worked at Bit Reactor from early 2023 until an acrimonious departure in May 2026, posted on LinkedIn accusing the studio of concealing what had happened. “It is sick and weird,” Scott wrote, to see EA, Disney, and Bit Reactor senior staff making positive public statements about Zero Company’s success “while seemingly concealing the fact that the team was furloughed weeks ago.”
The detail that drew most attention was the timing. While many of the studio’s staff were furloughed and kept in the dark, CEO Greg Foertsch was at Gamescom last week — publicly discussing Bit Reactor’s plans for a next game. Scott told Game File he spoke with nearly a dozen current and former Bit Reactor employees over the weekend, and that every account was consistent: they had each been furloughed approximately three weeks before launch.
“Everybody has essentially the same story, which is, ‘Yeah, I got furloughed three weeks ago.'” — Zachariah Scott, speaking to Game File
A Legal Battle Already Under Way
The furloughs came to light partly through an existing lawsuit. Alison Kelly, who co-founded Bit Reactor and served as its Chief Operating Officer until 2024, brought legal action against the studio. The August 12 court filing in that case was the first document to state explicitly that most employees had been furloughed. The case had been scheduled for trial in June 2026 but has been postponed to early 2027, with both sides continuing to file claims and conduct depositions.
A former Bit Reactor employee, in a separate LinkedIn post, alleged that furloughed staff had been “cut off from any possible profit sharing” and accused the studio of keeping the team “in a holding pattern with good vibes and more empty promises.”
About Star Wars Zero Company: Developed by Bit Reactor and published by EA, the XCOM-style tactical game launched on 27 August 2026 to high critical praise — its Metacritic score is the highest for any Star Wars title since Knights of the Old Republic II in 2004.
The Studio’s Future Depends on Sales
Bit Reactor told Game File it hopes to reinstate furloughed staff with restored pay if the game performs well commercially. Star Wars Zero Company is currently among Steam’s bestsellers, and its critical reception has been strong enough that commercial success seems plausible. Whether that translates into jobs returning is less certain.
Zachariah Scott told Game File that the workers he spoke with were not confident that even a strong launch would mean all furloughed staff would get their positions back. The studio has not indicated how well Zero Company needs to perform before reinstatement becomes possible.
The situation is a stark illustration of a familiar pattern in the gaming industry: studios founded on the premise of a single major contract, burning through funding as development extends, then arriving at launch day with an empty runway — regardless of how good the game turned out to be.
