Star Wars Zero Company studio Bit Reactor lays off staff weeks after bringing furloughed developers back
Bit Reactor, the studio behind Star Wars Zero Company, has laid off an unspecified number of staff, weeks after it began bringing furloughed developers back to work. The cuts were first reported by the Star Wars site Bespin Bulletin, which noted that several developers posted on LinkedIn that 6 November was their last day at the studio. Those affected include senior environment artist Ryan Lopez, UI engineer Tyler Eichten, producer Michael Blackard and QA analyst Ryan Mosher. The layoffs follow a difficult year for the studio: around 80% of its staff were furloughed without pay ahead of the game’s August launch, when Bit Reactor was running low on money, and only some were brought back in October. Zero Company launched on 27 August to strong reviews — 84 on Metacritic — and passed a million sales in its first weeks, but the studio’s finances have stayed fragile. Bit Reactor and EA have been asked for comment.
Sources: Video Games Chronicle — Star Wars Zero Company studio Bit Reactor is laying off staff, a month after it started bringing back furloughed devs, 9 Nov · GamesIndustry.biz — Star Wars Zero Company developer Bit Reactor has laid off an unspecified number of people, 9 Nov