Bit Reactor, the Maryland studio behind Star Wars Zero Company, furloughed most of its team in the weeks before the game shipped on August 27. The developers stayed employed but stopped receiving pay, even as the game climbed to the top of Steam’s sales chart and drew some of the strongest reviews a Star Wars game has seen in years.
Quick answer: A Bit Reactor representative confirmed the studio furloughed many workers before launch. One source put the figure at roughly 80% of the team, leaving only a skeleton crew on payroll to handle post-launch bugs. The studio says it hopes to bring people back with restored pay if the game performs well, but no return timeline or headcount is confirmed.
What happened at Bit Reactor before launch
Star Wars Zero Company is a single-player, turn-based tactical game built by Bit Reactor and published by Electronic Arts, made in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games. It launched on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The reception was strong. Fans embraced it, critics ranked it above most recent Star Wars titles, and it became the top-selling game on Steam.
Behind that success, much of the team that made the game was not getting paid. The furloughs went into effect weeks before release. A studio representative described it as a difficult decision, made before anyone knew how launch would go, and stressed that the call came from Bit Reactor itself rather than from EA or Disney.
The core problem was money. Bit Reactor, formed in 2021, had run through most of its cash right before shipping its first game.
How many people were affected
The studio declined to state the exact scale. Independent accounts point to a large share of the workforce being stood down, with a minimal team kept on to address issues after release.
| Detail | Status |
|---|---|
| Timing of furloughs | Weeks before the August 27 launch |
| Reported scale | Around 80% of the team, per one source |
| Remaining staff | A skeleton crew kept on payroll for post-launch bugs |
| Who decided | Bit Reactor alone, not EA or Disney |
| Return of workers | Hoped for, but no confirmed number or date |
Furloughed workers remain formally employed but do not draw wages during the furlough. Contract workers were terminated outright.
Zachariah Scott’s public account
The situation became public over the weekend when Zachariah Scott, a senior technical artist who worked at Bit Reactor from early 2023 until an acrimonious exit in May, posted on LinkedIn. He said the studio was concealing that the team had been furloughed while others celebrated the launch.
“It is sick and weird to have all of these EA and Disney folks as well as Bit Reactor Senior staff making all of these 10/10 posts about Star Wars Zero Company being such a huge success and praising the work of the team while seemingly concealing the fact that the team was Furloughed weeks ago.”
Scott argued that the timing pushed furloughed staff to look for new jobs and potentially cut them off from any profit-sharing tied to the game’s performance. He said he spoke with nearly a dozen former colleagues, and their accounts lined up. Each described being told about the furlough roughly three weeks before release.
“It is a gross but all too common sight to see, Another corporate game hitting the top of steam while the team is left looking for work and cut off from any possible profit sharing. It would be such a different story if they had been upfront about it earlier, and now it feels like they’re trying to keep the team in a holding pattern with good vibes and more empty promises.”
Scott also described his own departure, saying he was placed on involuntary medical leave and later fired, and that he was barred from explaining the circumstances to coworkers who simply noticed he was gone.
The co-founder lawsuit that revealed the furloughs
The furloughs first surfaced in a legal fight between Bit Reactor’s co-founders. A filing dated August 12 in a suit brought by Alison Kelly noted that the company had furloughed most of its employees and terminated contractors.
Kelly served as chief operating officer until 2024. She sued in July of that year, saying Greg Foertsch pushed her out. She filed first in federal court, then refiled in Maryland’s Baltimore County, alleging breach of contract and that Foertsch had unjustly enriched himself. She cited damages of more than $20 million, arguing the studio was worth more than double that amount.
The dispute centers on whether Kelly was a co-owner of the studio or whether Foertsch owned it alone. Foertsch’s side says she was never a co-owner and has raised claims about her job performance, which she denies. A trial originally set for June was pushed to early 2027 as both sides continue depositions and filings.
What happens next for the furloughed staff
Bit Reactor says it wants to restore pay and bring workers back, and it suggested a successful launch could make that possible. That outcome is not guaranteed. Workers Scott spoke with were skeptical that everyone furloughed would get their old jobs back even if the studio does begin rehiring.
For now, the studio’s future is tied to how the game performs over time. With the founder lawsuit still open and no firm date to resume payroll, the fate of Bit Reactor and the team that built Star Wars Zero Company remains unsettled.
