Despite the successful release of Star Wars Zero Company, 80% of the team has been placed on unpaid leave

Releasing a hit game is no longer a guarantee that a studio will survive.

Star Wars Zero Company

On August 27, the tactical strategy game Star Wars Zero Company by Bit Reactor was released. The publisher was EA.
In just a few days, sales of the game on Steam reached $30 million, with mostly positive reviews (79%).
In terms of peak online presence on Steam, Zero Company ranks among the top 2 most popular Star Wars licensed projects, with a peak of 77,000 players.
Less than a week after such a successful launch, it was reported that Bit Reactor furloughed 80% of its staff, leaving only a minimal team to fix bugs.
Employees were put on leave even before the game's release. The decision is presumably due to Bit Reactor running out of funds.
It is assured that this was not a decision made by EA or the franchise rights holder, Disney.
Former employees claim that the game's budget was extremely limited. According to them, the game was created under conditions of "shocking austerity."
Bit Reactor representatives hope the studio can bring back employees from furlough.
Simultaneously, there is a lawsuit with Alison Kelly, the former COO and, as she presents herself, a co-founder of the studio. She is demanding $20 million from the studio.
The studio was founded in 2021 by Greg Foertsch, a former art director at Firaxis, who was responsible for the graphics in games like Marvel Midnight Suns, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2, and worked on the art for Civilization 3 and 4.