Starbreeze Studios, the developer behind the Payday series and multiple iconic titles in the seventh generation of consoles, releasedPayday 3in 2023 after years of development.
Despite its predecessor’s commercial success,Payday 3 did not perform well or meet expectations, leading to the departure of its former CEO, Tobias Sjögren, in March 2024. Starbreeze Studios claimed that “different leadership” was required to take the company forward. Torgny Hellström, the company’s chairman, said the following at the time:
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“The company has a clear strategy centered around creating attractive games on our own and licensed IPs. The board’s consolidated assessment is that the execution of strategy needs a different leadership.”
Now, after a year since Sjögren’s departure, Adolf Kristjansson, former senior director of global commercial strategy at EA, has been appointed the current CEO of Starbreeze Studios.
Kristjansson’s role as the company’s CEO will begin on June 29, 2025, and the interim CEO,Mats Juhl, will return to his previous role as chief financial officer.
A New Leadership to Turn the Tides
Payday 3 had a horrible launch, with major issues which made the game almost unplayable. In 2024’s financial report, Payday 3 sales had decreased dramatically compared to the previous year.
With all that said, Starbreeze Studios recently claimed that Payday 3 is on the road to recovery. With the previous experiences Kristjansson has, Starbreeze’s dire situation could be bolstered. Kristjansson seems determined to build Starbreeze into a “multi-title studio”. In a note to investors, he said the following:
“I join Starbreeze with great enthusiasm for the company’s current and future projects, not the least the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons title. I look forward to continuing the work of expanding the Payday franchise further and building Starbreeze into a true multi-title studio… Most of all, I look forward to working closely with our talented teams and engaging with our passionate player community as we build the next chapter of Starbreeze together”
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