Bit Reactor, the developer behind Star Wars: Squad Zero, has announced layoffs, though the exact number has not been disclosed. Just a month ago, the studio had recalled some employees from unpaid leave back to work.
According to Star Wars news outlet Bespin Bulletin, which broke the story first, multiple developers confirmed on LinkedIn on Friday, November 6th, that they had been laid off. Bit Reactor has not yet disclosed the scale of these layoffs.
Among those laid off was Senior Environment Artist Ryan Lopez. He worked on the project for three and a half years, participating in the entire process from pre-production to official release. After three months of unpaid leave, he was ultimately let go. UI Engineer Tyler Eichten, who designed most of the tactical mission interfaces, and Ryan Mosher from the QA team have also confirmed their departures.
Lopez wrote, "Although it hurts, I am proud of what we created together. It was an honor to work with everyone to bring this game to life."
On August 27th this year, just weeks before the release of Squad Zero, Bit Reactor placed most of its employees on unpaid leave, with reports suggesting around 80% of staff were affected. At the time, it seemed the studio was already facing financial difficulties ahead of the game's launch.
Despite this, the game performed well in the market after its release, reportedly selling over one million copies in its first month. On October 7th, Studio CEO Greg Felch posted on Bluesky stating that the studio had "initiated processes to bring more team members back to work." He described placing employees on leave near the release date as an "incredibly difficult decision, but necessary to ultimately allow as many people as possible to return to their positions."
It is understood that more than half of the studio's employees have returned to work, although not everyone has had their full salary restored. It remains unclear whether any of the recently recalled employees were among those laid off this time.