Swedish developer Starbreeze Studios has endured its fair share of difficulties well before the pandemic hit, but the studio's financial results are a proper testament to the new leadership.
In the public eye, Starbreeze's troubles officially began in 2018 with the raid of their offices . The studio seemed to suffer misfortune upon misfortune, to the extent where we feared that the pandemic will be the end of them.
A few confused plans, one cancelled contract and one brush with bankruptcy later, the studio's new management took the wheel, and their results are truly impressive.
Starbreeze's loss before tax amounted to SEK 130.5 million / $15.75 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, which may not seem like bragging material until you consider that the same report in 2019 had the company SEK 452.4 million / $54 million in red.
It shouldn't be surprising to see Payday 2 still topping the studio's list of golden geese, which earned it a special place in the report.
"Our Payday franchise and “games as a service model” really showed their muscles during the year with several successful releases of content for PAYDAY 2. By late December, PAYDAY 2 had become the biggest game community on Steam, with 7.1 million members", wrote Starbreeze's acting CEO Tobias Sjogren.
Starbreeze Studio
Sjogren's summary of the period is almost unrecognisable from its 2019 counterpart, which for players means not having to wave Payday 2 goodbye. As for Payday 3, we'll let you hear it straight from the horse's mouth:
"We have executed two capital raises during the year and paid off a large proportion of our debts, strengthened our financial position and thus enabling the continued successful development of PAYDAY 3 in 2021 – all key steps in putting Starbreeze back on the map as an industry leader."
You can find the full report here .
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