Starbreeze has successfully completed reconstruction, a process that took around a year altogether and saw the company refocus much of its business in the interest of staying above water.
Acting CEO Mikael Nermark says in a statement that the reconstruction endured over the past year now leaves Starbreeze with a stable foundation to build upon in “decades to come,” a foundation that looks to keep ongoing development of its Payday franchise at its core.
“It has been a toilsome journey for the entire company over the past twelve months, but we are very pleased to have gained the creditors’ confidence and have succeeded in reclassifying the majority of our debts to long-term to be repaid over five years,” says Nermark. “We have also succeeded in positioning the company in a situation where we can look forward to the future and focus on our core business – to develop games within the Payday-franchise.”
“Together with all our employees, I look forward to reaching a publishing agreement for Payday during the first half of 2020 via the ongoing dialogues we’re currently in, and to develop the game into a worthy sequel to the series together with a respected partner.”
Starbreeze first entered into reconstruction in December 2018, and would ultimately extend that period three times before successfully exiting the process this month. During the last year, Starbreeze refocused much of its business, a process that involved significant layoffs and the sale of publishing rights for high-profile projects like Psychonauts 2 and System Shock 3 in an effort to keep the company from closing down entirely.
Toward the latter months of that sudden pivot, Starbreeze has decided its future lies in reinvigorating its “core business” of internal game development, a process that started with the studio resuming active development on Payday 2 despite earlier promises the game was complete until an eventual sequel. Even amid ongoing losses and without active support, Payday 2 has remained a strong earner for Starbreeze over the last year, prompting the decision to zero in on that brand as Starbreeze’s core business and back away from higher risk, non-core ventures.