Bit Reactor lays off employees before Star Wars

Treating the development team with extreme financial containment measures right before a major release unveils serious issues in the studio's administrative management, tarnishing the history of a production that had everything to be a positive milestone. Developer Bit Reactor put a large part of its team on unpaid leave weeks before the debut of the game Star Wars Zero Company.

A representative from Bit Reactor told the Game File portal that the measure was a difficult decision made before the launch results became clear, ensuring that the action was not influenced by the distributor Electronic Arts or Disney, the holder of the Star Wars brand.

Despite the internal backstage turmoil, the title Star Wars Zero Company is receiving positive feedback from critics and the public, currently holding the second position on the best-sellers list on the Steam platform.

Sources consulted by Game File claim that around 80% of Bit Reactor's staff were laid off due to lack of funds, leaving only a reduced team responsible for fixing potential bugs after the release.

The exhaustion of the budget during the final production stage was cited as the main reason for halting activities for a large portion of the staff.

Former senior technical artist Zachariah Scott revealed on LinkedIn that the studio's management concealed the fact that the team had been laid off weeks before the public announcement.

In further statements to Game File, the professional noted that the budget was tight throughout his tenure at the company and that founder Greg Foertsch frequently mentioned the need to secure new contracts to keep operations ongoing.

Proposals such as creating additional animations for the lightsabers were discarded under the justification of a lack of financial resources, with the developer describing the production as a project conducted under severe austerity.

Bit Reactor expressed hope to reintegrate the laid-off workers once the commercial performance of Star Wars Zero Company in digital stores brings financial returns to the company’s cash flow.

Meanwhile, Scott noted that the employees he spoke with show little confidence in the promise of returning to their previous positions, even if the title achieves good sales numbers.

The staff reduction was also mentioned in a legal lawsuit filed in 2024 by former COO Alison Kelly, who also indicated that contracts with third-party service providers were prematurely terminated.

The legal dispute concerns the corporate structure of Bit Reactor, where Kelly claims to be a partner in the studio alongside Greg Foertsch and co-founder Tom Whittaker. Meanwhile, Foertsch's defense states that the former executive was dismissed for unsatisfactory performance and that the preliminary share division agreement was never signed.

Seeking compensation exceeding $20 million in court, Kelly challenges the board's allegations at a time when other founders, like Tom Whittaker and Steve Meyer, have already exited the studio's structure.

Achieving a prominent spot in Steam sales with a title based on the Star Wars franchise is a remarkable feat for Bit Reactor’s debut. However, exposing professionals to layoffs and unpaid leaves due to financial mismanagement at Bit Reactor highlights how corporate culture still fails to protect those who truly build the games in practice.