In a move that shouldn’t catch many off guard, Starbreeze is trimming down the developer team on Payday 3.
It’s no secret that Payday 3 stumbled out of the gate at launch. Even Starbreeze acknowledges this hiccup. The company is eager to earn back players’ trust, though they’ll be doing so with fewer developers onboard. This change was highlighted in a recent interim report from Mats Juhl, Starbreeze’s acting CEO. Juhl mentioned that “in the coming months, investment will be lower as we wrap up ‘Operation Medic Bag’ for Payday, leading us into Year 2 with a streamlined team devoted to rolling out new content for the game.”
Juhl didn’t get into specifics about how this would impact players, such as whether updates will be less frequent or smaller in scope. However, the report’s use of the word “continuously” hints at a somewhat regular update schedule. It’s also reassuring to read that Starbreeze is “financially strong,” without any talk of layoffs. Though they admit there’s room for improvement in Payday 3’s sales, the hope is that the smaller team signifies a shift in personnel rather than job losses. Juhl also noted that the latest DLC releases have been well-received, so perhaps the tide may shift in Starbreeze’s favor soon.
Interestingly, support from “relatively stable sales of Payday 2” is helping to cushion Payday 3’s lackluster performance. It’s not entirely shocking, especially given that many players have returned to the second installment.
There’s also some news about Project Baxter, a venture into Dungeons & Dragons, which is reportedly “moving at full throttle.” Internal playtests are running, and ongoing talks are happening with prominent industry figures about potential partnerships for Baxter’s development and launch.
For the time being, fingers crossed that the current team stays intact, as we’ve seen enough layoffs over the past year.
