With the departure of CEO Tobias Sjögren, Starbreeze Studios is now seeking a new leader. The company is best known for developing Payday 3. This information was revealed in a recent investor letter, which GameDeveloper published, and reveals that board member Juergen Goeldner is assuming temporary CEO duties. The announcement of today’s departure comes after Payday 3 did not live up to expectations, according to GameDeveloper, despite Starbreeze’s unclear wording on Sjögren’s departure. The studio just stated that it is saying goodbye to the former CEO.
New Leadership at Starbreeze: Transitioning Towards a Promising Future
Torgny Hellström, the board chairman, says in the investor announcement.
“On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank Tobias Sjögren for his achievements during the past three years. Tobias took over the helm of Starbreeze in a challenging phase of its journey and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”
The new acting CEO, Goeldner, continues,
“Starbreeze has a strong history of developing and publishing games globally. After launching Payday 3, the company is well-positioned to leverage the strengths of the organization to monetize and develop the IP portfolio. I am looking forward to assuming an operative position and, together with the management, ensure the execution of this strategy.”
The notification states that Goeldner has forty years of expertise in the gaming sector, including many management roles. He was the CEO of Focus Home Interactive in his previous role as an executive. He joined Starbreeze’s board of directors the previous year. Starbreeze has started the hiring process for a CEO who will be there permanently. On September 21, Payday 3 was released for PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5. In our review of Game Informer Payday 3, we gave the game an 8 out of 10. We loved it around the launch. Even though Payday 3 was played by over 3 million players in its first month, the game fell short of the studio’s goals.
Payday 3’s Struggle: A Disappointing Release and Subsequent Challenges
It was, in fact, Payday 3, even though the announcement does not refer to it. One of the biggest schmozzles of recent years was the release of the eagerly anticipated Payday 2, which was a decade older than its predecessor. While the game’s gameplay was mediocre, several players were unable to engage with it at all, even when they were playing alone, due to persistent technical problems and a lack of timely patches.
The figures support Sjögren’s February admission that “Payday 3’s sales and player activity are currently at significantly lower levels than we would like.” Comparing Payday 3 to Payday 2, which had over 31,000 concurrent players at its peak 24-hour period, Steam Charts shows that Payday 3 had just 353 concurrent players. Although there was an announcement in February about a change of direction, it was evident that the effort to salvage his employment came too little, too late. Starbreeze is now seeking a new CEO, and in the meantime, Juergen Goeldner, a current member of the company’s board of directors and the former CEO of Focus Home Interactive, will assume the post.
