Starbreeze Studios Layoffs Continue

Drama

22 January 2026 07:13

Starbreeze Studios is dealing with fresh layoffs, adding more pain to a developer already battered by the rocky road of Payday 3. Employees started sharing the tough news on LinkedIn this week, though the company in Stockholm hasn't put out any official word yet.

The posts from staff paint a pretty grim picture. QA tester Alexander Pereswetoff-Morath wrote, “Today, many of us at Starbreeze, Stockholm, got sad news and I’m now seeking a new role and would appreciate your support.” He went on to note his long tenure, saying, “After over 7 years, the longest I’ve ever been at any company in any industry, my time has (more than likely) come.”Senior Tech Producer Sabina af Jochnick echoed the sentiment, posting, “Due to the recent layoffs at Starbreeze, my role has been identified as at risk of redundancy, so I’m beginning to look at what’s next.”

Payday 3's Rough History Fuels the Trouble

Ever since Payday 3 dropped in 2023, things have been rough. The launch hit players with massive frustrations, server issues, and gameplay gripes that sent a ton of the community packing early. The backlash was so intense that Starbreeze ended up letting go of then-CEO Tobias Sjögren not long after.

By late 2024, the studio dialed back big time, announcing plans to pour “significantly less” money into year-two content for the game. That shift came after earlier cuts too, including around 15% of the workforce gone between 2024 and early 2025, plus more hits in late 2025 tied to scrapping their Dungeons & Dragons project.

Financial headaches haven't helped. Reports from a couple years back showed hefty losses, and the focus has stayed locked on trying to salvage Payday's future.

More:Esports World Cup 2026 Prize Pool Announced

Tags: Starbreeze Studios Payday

Share:

Sources:

Report mistake Submit news

Related news

View All

Payday 2 Subscription Service Revealed

To mark the 12th anniversary of the Payday franchise, Starbreeze has launched a new subscription service for Payday 2, giving...

More

Sep 25, 2025

Sega Reveals a Loss of $200m

TL;DR

Sega Sammy reported a sharp drop in operating and ordinary income for the nine months ended December 31, 2025,...
Drama
Feb 16, 2026

Hideki Sato Passed Away

Hideki Sato, the longtime Sega engineer who helped shape the company’s most iconic arcade and home console hardware, has passed...

Drama

Feb 16, 2026

Naphat “Tokyogurl” Warasin and Cheerio Arrested for Cheating

Thailand’s esports scene has been rocked by a major integrity scandal after the Crime Suppression Division arrested former national representative...

Drama

Feb 13, 2026

1200 Ubisoft Employees on Strike

TL;DR

More than 1,200 Ubisoft employees joined a three-day international strike following the company’s latest restructuring announcement.

Ubisoft confirmed that...

Drama

Feb 12, 2026

Starbreeze Studios Layoffs Continue

Drama

22 January 2026 07:13

Tags: Starbreeze Studios Payday

Starbreeze Studios is dealing with fresh layoffs, adding more pain to a developer already battered by the rocky road of Payday 3. Employees started sharing the tough news on LinkedIn this week, though the company in Stockholm hasn't put out any official word yet.

The posts from staff paint a pretty grim picture. QA tester Alexander Pereswetoff-Morath wrote, “Today, many of us at Starbreeze, Stockholm, got sad news and I’m now seeking a new role and would appreciate your support.” He went on to note his long tenure, saying, “After over 7 years, the longest I’ve ever been at any company in any industry, my time has (more than likely) come.”Senior Tech Producer Sabina af Jochnick echoed the sentiment, posting, “Due to the recent layoffs at Starbreeze, my role has been identified as at risk of redundancy, so I’m beginning to look at what’s next.”

Payday 3's Rough History Fuels the Trouble

Ever since Payday 3 dropped in 2023, things have been rough. The launch hit players with massive frustrations, server issues, and gameplay gripes that sent a ton of the community packing early. The backlash was so intense that Starbreeze ended up letting go of then-CEO Tobias Sjögren not long after.

By late 2024, the studio dialed back big time, announcing plans to pour “significantly less” money into year-two content for the game. That shift came after earlier cuts too, including around 15% of the workforce gone between 2024 and early 2025, plus more hits in late 2025 tied to scrapping their Dungeons & Dragons project.

Financial headaches haven't helped. Reports from a couple years back showed hefty losses, and the focus has stayed locked on trying to salvage Payday's future.

More:Esports World Cup 2026 Prize Pool Announced

Share:

Sources:

Report mistake Submit news