The launch of Payday 3 in 2023 was a catastrophe, resulting in poor overview scores, a damaging Steam score, and followers abandoning the brand new recreation to play Payday 2 as an alternative. Now, a number of months later, and after Payday 3 failed to satisfy gross sales expectations, the CEO of developer Starbreeze has been eliminated as the corporate appears to be like for “completely different management.”
Launched in September 2023, Payday 3 suffered from damaged servers and unhealthy matchmaking on day one. PS5 gamers additionally acquired caught enjoying an older construct of the sport, too. As soon as issues stabilized, there have been nonetheless points. The sport was lacking a solo possibility for lone wolves, a technique to leap into matches by way of quickplay, and even a technique to vote to kick gamers. The problems have been so unhealthy that the builders introduced plans in February 2024 to concentrate on including in all of the options and content material gamers demanded and fixing the sport’s development and UI, too. In the meantime, that very same month, Starbreeze introduced that the sport failed to satisfy gross sales expectations. Based on SteamDB, Payday 3 has fewer than 400 gamers on-line most days. Payday 2 most days has over 25,000 lively customers. All and all, fairly unhealthy! And now, seemingly on account of this poor launch, Starbreeze CEO Tobias Sjögren has been eliminated.
In a March 12 put up on Starbreeze’s company web site, the corporate’s board of administrators introduced that, efficient instantly, Sjögren had been faraway from his place as CEO and was now not a part of the corporate. As an alternative, board member and former Focus Dwelling Interactive CEO Juergen Goeldner is now the interim CEO whereas Starbreeze appears to be like for a brand new individual to tackle the function completely. Based on the be aware, Starbreeze’s board determined that the corporate wants “completely different management.”
“[Starbreeze] has a transparent technique centered round creating enticing video games on our personal and licensed IPs,” stated Torgny Hellström, Starbreeze’s Chairman. “The board’s consolidated evaluation is that the execution of technique wants a special management. Juergen Goeldner has been a part of the board since 2023 and, with over 40 years of business expertise, is a powerful interim resolution.”
Starbreeze says in its be aware that former CEO Sjögren might be round to assist present a “clean transition.” Starbreeze has had an eventful previous few years, together with a raid by police in 2018 as half of a bigger investigation into insider buying and selling. In 2020, the previous CFO of the corporate was convicted on insider buying and selling prices, although he was acquitted in 2021.