Bit Reactor lays off staff at Star Wars Zero Company studio
Bit Reactor, the developer of Star Wars Zero Company, has laid off an unspecified number of people at its Maryland studio. The layoffs came after the studio began returning furloughed staff to work in October.
Several former employees said November 6 would be their last day at the studio, according to reporting by the Star Wars site Bespin Bulletin. Since then, multiple former Bit Reactor employees have discussed their experiences on LinkedIn.
Environment artist Michael Cabezas confirmed on LinkedIn that he had been laid off from Bit Reactor, saying that working with the team on a Star Wars title was a "career highlight" for him, and that he was "proud of the work we were able to accomplish on Star Wars Zero Company". QA professional Ryan Mosher also confirmed he had been laid off, along with producer Michael Blackard, environment artist Joshua Jay, UI engineer Tyler Eichten, and senior environment artist Ryan Lopez.
Bit Reactor furloughed "many of its workers" ahead of the release of the turn-based tactics game Star Wars Zero Company in August, before starting the process of returning furloughed staff to work in October. The studio was founded just over four years ago in Maryland by former Firaxis art director Greg Foertsch, drawing on talent from the XCOM developer as well as other studios.
Star Wars Zero Company was published by Electronic Arts and launched on August 27 to favourable reviews, currently with a score of 84 on Metacritic for the PC release. In late September, Alinea Analytics estimated that Zero Company had sold a million units, with nearly 70% of its sales coming from Steam. The game also launched on PS5 and Xbox. As of today, Video Game Insights estimates that Zero Company's sales total has now reached 1.2 million, generating approximately $52.2 million in revenue.
GamesIndustry.biz has reached out to Bit Reactor and EA for comment, and will update the story if it receives a response. Bit Reactor has not said how many people are affected or given a reason for the cuts.
