For Bit Reactor, the story around Star Wars Zero Company has become painfully circular. The studio furloughed much of its team before the tactics game launched, began bringing people back after the game found an audience, and is now seeing staff announce fresh layoffs.
Several developers said on LinkedIn that they had been let go on November 6, as first reported by Bespin Bulletin. The people named in subsequent coverage include senior environment artist Ryan Lopez, UI engineer Tyler Eichten and senior QA analyst Ryan Mosher. Bit Reactor has not publicly said how many roles were affected or explained the decision.
The timing makes the news especially stark. Before Zero Company launched in August, Bit Reactor confirmed to Game File that it had furloughed staff without pay amid worries about the game’s launch performance. In October, chief executive Greg Foertsch said the studio had started returning more people to work, describing the move as an important step in ongoing support for the game.
That return followed a strong early reception and a reported million sales in the game’s first month. Yet a commercial success does not automatically turn a studio’s staffing position around, and the latest announcements show the recovery did not extend to everyone.
For players, the immediate question is what this means for Star Wars Zero Company support. EA’s official launch material describes the game as Bit Reactor’s debut, developed with Lucasfilm Games, but neither company has announced a change to post-launch plans. With the number of affected staff still unclear, it is too early to draw a line from these departures to the game’s future.
