Bit Reactor starts bringing back Star Wars: Zero Company staff
The studio says it has begun rehiring part of the team it furloughed without pay; sources cited by Game File put the figure above half of the earlier staff.
Bit Reactor, the studio behind the tactical game Star Wars: Zero Company, has called back more of its staff. The announcement came from CEO Greg Foertsch on social media on Oct. 7, according to Game Developer. It is the studio's first public statement since the furloughs became known.
"This week, we started the process" of returning more people to work, Foertsch wrote. The company did not say how many came back. According to a source cited by Game File, the payroll now exceeds half of the staff it had before the furloughs. The company has not confirmed that figure.
Those still out have gone about two months without pay or benefits, according to Game File. Earlier, the studio had furloughed more than 80 % of its staff without pay a few weeks before the game launched, and the furloughs came to light through an ongoing lawsuit. Game File broke the story in August.
Game Developer, which relies on Game File's reporting, adds that the U.S. Department of Labor does not require companies to disclose figures unless there are layoffs. Neither outlet clarifies whether the workers who return, or those still furloughed, will share in the game's profits.
How many people actually returned remains unknown: the studio has not said, and Game File's figure comes from anonymous sources.
