Just as Star Wars Zero Company was set to launch earlier this year, developer Bit Reactor furloughed over 80% of its staff over sales uncertainty. In other words, much of its staff were receiving no pay, despite technically being employees, right when players were getting their hands on the game. Earlier this week on Bluesky, the studio announced it had begun undoing this "difficult decision" (via gamesindustry.biz).
Bit Reactor CEO Greg Foertsch said in the statement that the decision was made in response to "unexpected business developments outside of our control," but that it was "necessary to help us eventually bring as many people back as possible."
According to Game File, an unnamed source "familiar with the situation" has said that the developer's payroll is back up to more than half what it was before the furloughs. When this first happened, Game File reported that 80 percent of Bit Reactor employees were affected, hamstringing any sort of support following the game's release, and that the decision fell with Bit Reactor, not publisher EA.
While the launch had some issues, some of the most prominent of which were addressed in a patch shortly after release, the game shot up the Steam best seller's list and got a glowing review from PC Gamer associate editor Ted Litchfield, who called it "a new all-timer Star Wars game and a stunning debut for Bit Reactor."
