Starbreeze carries out a new wave of layoffs in Stockholm

Starbreeze, the developer of the Payday franchise, carried out a second round of layoffs within just two months. Reports emerged from affected employees on professional social networks, confirming cuts at the headquarters in Stockholm. Among the names that left the company are former QA Alexander Pereswetoff-Morath, who had been with the company for seven years, senior technical producer Sabina af Jochnick, programmer Kim Sjöberg, and sound designer Mark Trusov.

This move follows the layoff of approximately 44 employees last October, after the cancellation of the Dungeons & Dragons game (Project Baxter). At the time, Starbreeze's justification was to focus resources on accelerating the Payday brand. The company's management has also been unstable: in March 2024, Tobias Sjögren left the CEO position, temporarily replaced by Juergen Goeldner, followed by Mats Juhl in May, until the definitive appointment of Adolf Kristjansson, former Electronic Arts, in March this year.

"Today, many of us at Starbreeze, Stockholm, received sad news and I am now looking for a new position"

"After more than seven years, the longest time I have ever spent in any company in any sector, my time (probably) has come"

The sequence of layoffs and the constant leadership changes suggest that Starbreeze is facing deep difficulties in stabilizing its operation, even after sacrificing new projects to focus on its main intellectual property.