Starbreeze canceled Project Baxter, his game Dungeons & Dragons cooperative, released a significant part of his programmers and announced the plans of the double franchise Payday.
Project Baxter was announced in December 2023 as a game of an unreal D&D engine, which “would wear signed starbreeze corner stones from cooperative multiplayer, lifetime involvement through games as a service model, community involvement and greater than life experience.”
The plan consisted of launching the Baxter project on all major platforms in 2026 with Cross Gompolay. But the news was sporadic, and the post in social media shows one image of the installation in September 2024.
In November last year, Starbreeze said that he was still employing Project Baxter, and work on the game lasted “at full speed.” “Internally we have Baxter’s weekly tests and active discussions with many leading industries on the subject of potential cooperation in the field of development and launch of Baxter,” said the studio. From November 2024, Starbreeze had 191 employees, most of whom had its headquarters at the headquarters in Stockholm in Sweden.
The decision to cancel Project Baxter cost the Swedish company 255 million SEK (around 27.2 million USD) as part of development costs.
CEO Adolf Kristjansson called this “a difficult but necessary decision”, but he did not mention any special problems with the development of the Baxter project, which could have been taken into account.
“Our strategy is clear: Payday is one of the most iconic IP addresses in games, unparalleled coverage and potential,” Kristjansson said in a prepared statement. “By focusing our investment and talent here, we can speed up the delivery, engage players by more content and strengthen Starbreeze’s position as a clear leader in the hey species. It’s about sharpening our emphasis on creating the strongest long -term value for our players, our people and our shareholders.”
The “part” of the Baxter team will be moved in Starbreeze projects, mainly during the day, but about 44 full -time employees and contractors will lose their jobs.
“We will double what our players love – and what we do best – having a seizure species,” Kristjansson continued. “Payday is more than a game – it is a species that we have created and continue to run. Thanks to the re -implementation of talents and capital, we can introduce innovations in a heisting game faster, while putting the foundation for the future expansion of this genre.”
Starbreeze said that Payday has over 50 million players around the world and generated nearly 4 billion SEK (about $ 427 million) of lifetime gross revenues.
“With the increase in concentration and resources, Starbreeze will accelerate its road map, providing more frequent updates, new falls of content and continuous live commitment,” said the company. “Baxter’s withdrawal, combined with increased emphasis on Payday franchise, will allow Starbreeze to get a positive cash flow in 2026.”
Kristjansson added: “I want to honestly thank the Baxter team for their passion and creativity and express appreciation for the wizards of the coast for their support. Although we decided not to continue this project, we are proud of what was achieved in Baxter, and this contribution will lead to Payday and the future of the stardeee. To focus on our effort, we give Starboreze all our employees.
So what will the future of Starbreeze bring? The 12-year-old Payday 2 still has many more players than Payday 3 on Steam, but the developer insisted that Payday 3 “be developed into a scalable live involvement platform to involve millions of players around the world.” The Payday 3 team will increase to about 50 employees before the end of the year “and is still growing with the increased involvement of the player”.
Meanwhile, Starbreeze said that he also had new attack games in works, including spinoffs and narrative -based projects, and plans to develop Payday to new platforms. Meanwhile, he offers its services as a studio for employment.
Wesley is a director, news in IGN. Find it on Twitter on @św100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpole@ign.com or confidentially at spine@proton.me.
