General News - New Tactics Studio Bit Reactor

A group of Firaxis Games veterans has announced a brand new Maryland-based studio called Bit Reactor which will be focused on turn-based strategy games.

Bit Reactor will be headed up by former Firaxis art director Greg Foertsch, who worked with Firaxis for over 20 years on games including XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2, Civilization 3, and Civilization 4. Other members of the studio include former lead developers and creatives who also worked on the XCOM franchise.

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Now, the strategy genre doesn't have to be restricted by the technological limitations of the past. Top down games can have stunning worlds that can stand against the latest open world escapades, or a narrative to rival the next great RPG.

Former Firaxis art director Greg Foertsch hopes to be at the forefront of the strategy resurgence with his new studio, Bit Reactor. Drawing other talent from the XCOM developer as well as other teams, Foertsch aims to build an outfit -- and later, a game -- that will bring the genre into a new era.

"The whole genre started to fall backwards while not having enough production values and it got dropped a bit," Foertsch tells GamesIndustry.biz. "Now, that's not a problem. Screen resolution isn't an issue. There are ways to tell stories and convey information that doesn't require a wall of text.

"That's what we're focused on -- bringing that to the genre, and really blurring that line between what a strategy game is and what an action game is."

Foertsch spent more than 20 years with Firaxis in various roles, before departing in 2018. After that, he had a small stint at Romero Games, which at the time was building strategy title Empire of Sin. For Foertsch, journeying from a long stint at a larger developer to a smaller one, to starting up his own studio, is all about setting his own parameters when it comes to developing a new game.

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Originally Posted by henriquejr
Good news!

Does anyone know if they're already working on a new game?

The studio will focus on turn-based strategy games, with Foertsch saying that the genre has been "greatly overlooked" amid the current new generation of technology and that tactics games have "an enormous amount of room for innovation." Multiple unannounced games are currently in the works.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
That's an excellent genre to dive head-first into these days! I truly look forward to seeing what these folks produce.

Former Firaxis art director Greg Foertsch hopes to be at the forefront of the strategy resurgence with his new studio, Bit Reactor. Drawing other talent from the XCOM developer as well as other teams, Foertsch aims to build an outfit -- and later, a game -- that will bring the genre into a new era.