One of the many video games coming out this month was Star Wars Zero Company, a new turn-based tactics game set in the twilight of the Clone Wars. The game has seen an overwhelmingly positive reaction seeing praise from both critics and fans alike. It’s also one of the top-selling games on Steam at the moment. However, a new report has shed more light on the game’s developer, Bit Reactor. Game File is reporting that the studio had furloughed many of its workers prior to the game’s release. This has been confirmed from a rep for the developer.

The rep told Game File that it was a difficult decision and one that had been made before it was clear how launch would go. The rep emphazied that this was a decision done by Bit Reactor alone, not from publisher EA or Disney, the current license holder for Star Wars. 

A previously unreported lawsuit by studio Co-Founder Alison Kelly in 2024 noted in a filing from August 12 of this year that Bit Reactor “has furloughed most of its employees and terminated contractors…” A source says that the furloughs impacted 80% of the team; Another says that there is only a skeleton crew left on Bit Reactor’s active payroll, ready to address any of Zero Company’s post-launch bugs.

This has stemmed from Bit Reactor’s shortage of money, which had run out just ahead of the game’s launch.

Over the weekend, Zachariah Scott, a senior technical artist who worked at Bit Reactor from early 2023 until an acrimonious exit this past May, said on LinkedIn that the studio was “concealing the fact that the team was Furloughed weeks ago.”

The rep told Game File that the studio wants to bring the forloughed workers back with restored pay, suggesting that a successful launch of the game could be impactful. Scott, on the other hand, told Game File that the workers he spoke to were less confident that even if there were returns, that all who were furloughed would get their old jobs again.

This is happening all in the midst of a alleged power struggle between the Co-Founders Allison Kelly and Greg Foertsch. Kelly’s lawsuit is a she-said/he-said  about whether Kelly, until 2024 the chief operating officer of Bit Reactor, was a co-owner of the studio or whether it was solely owned by Foertsch.

Back in July 2024, Kelly sued, allegedly saying that she was pushed out by Foertsch. The suit was filed in federal court first before later getting refiled in Maryland’s Baltimore County, alleging breach of contract and that Foertsch had unjustly enriched himself. Kelly cited damages of over $20 million, on the basis of Bit Reactor allegedly being worth more than double that.

Foertsch’s side is arguing that Kelly was never a Co-Owner and has countered with claims about her job performance (which she has denied).

The trial has been postponed until early 2027.