According to estimates from data firm Alinea Analytics, Star Wars: Zero Company sold over one million copies in its first month. Developed by Bit Reactor in collaboration with Respawn Entertainment and released on August 27, the game is seen as a rare success story in the turbulent gaming industry. Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics wrote in his latest brief that Zero Company has generated approximately $50 million in revenue since its August 27 launch, a considerable achievement for this genre and during such a competitive release window. He revealed that sales have exceeded one million units, with Steam accounting for 69.9%, PlayStation for 19.9%, and Xbox (including Xbox PC) for 10.2%.
Although this estimate has not yet been confirmed by publisher EA, it is noteworthy for two reasons. First, it signifies another high-quality AA game achieving breakthrough success commensurate with its quality—previously, Blood of Dawnbreakers, also from a new studio, had just surpassed one million in sales. Star Wars: Zero Company is an excellent XCOM-like title with solid gameplay, well-developed systems, and outstanding narrative, performing far beyond what its budget level would suggest.
Secondly, breaking the one-million sales mark could mean that Bit Reactor, which collaborated with Respawn Entertainment on this title, may be able to bring back many developers who were previously placed on unpaid leave. Reports indicate that due to the studio running out of funds, a large number of employees were put on unpaid leave just before launch, leaving only a small core team to handle post-launch patches and player support. Currently, the studio is also facing a lawsuit filed by its former CFO regarding disputes over company management and ownership.
Neither Bit Reactor nor EA has confirmed the specific process for bringing employees back, nor clarified whether the unpaid leave will ultimately turn into permanent layoffs. Part of the uncertainty may depend on the details of the existing publishing agreement and the break-even threshold Bit Reactor needs to reach before it can start receiving revenue shares. Weeks after the news of unpaid leaves went public, this dire situation still appears far from resolution.