Starbreeze Champions Optimism Despite Soaring Challenges for Payday 3 Sales
By Starbreeze is optimistic that a variety of platform partnerships and collaborations could help Payday 3 on its path to recovery, but annual sales associated with the game have significantly decreased year-over-year.
According to its annual financial report for the full year ending December 2024, Starbreeze reported total annual sales of SEK 185.9 million ($17.3 million), a decline from the SEK 633.5 million ($59.1 million) tallied the previous year.
This drop in sales coupled with escalating expenses led to Starbreeze revealing an annual loss of SEK 199.1 million ($18.5 million).
Payday 2 generated SEK 41.8 million ($3.9 million) in sales, down from SEK 139.1 million ($13 million) earned the prior year. Starbreeze noted demand for the aging title (launched in 2013) remains “steady.”
Payday 3 recorded sales of SEK 82.9 million ($7.7 million) across the fiscal year, a drastic drop from the SEK 477 million ($44.5 million) it achieved the year before.
Putting these figures into perspective, Payday 3 was launched in September 2023. According to Starbreeze, the game was already underperforming significantly by December 2023 and was in urgent need of improvement.
At that time, the Swedish company stated that the sequel was operating at “much lower levels” than expected. To address the situation, Starbreeze assembled a dedicated team of experienced developers to enhance the gameplay and claimed they must “take players’ feedback seriously.”
Consequently, it dismissed former CEO Tobias Sjögren, announcing that new leadership was necessary to establish a strategy “focused on creating engaging games from our own and licensed IPs.”
Can cross-platform partnerships assist Payday 3 in reaching an audience?
Evaluating the current state of affairs, Starbreeze suggested Payday 3 is now positioned for growth following the release of a significant corrective update towards the end of 2024. The company also mentioned efforts to enhance the “presence and visibility” of the franchise across multiple platforms.
“As of this writing, Payday 3 is featured as one of the games of the month on PlayStation Plus, meaning it will be available for anyone with a Plus subscription to download and play throughout February,” stated Starbreeze.
“The partnership with PlayStation is expected to positively impact Payday’s revenue in the first quarter of 2025, but most importantly, it offers an incredible opportunity for millions of players to experience Payday 3 as it stands today, following 1.5 years of persistent effort to improve the game both functionally and in terms of content.”
Starbreeze is also planning to release Payday experiences on other gaming platforms such as PUBG and Roblox. It believes these ‘brand extension’ efforts will introduce the title to new audiences, including the “younger” demographic that predominantly plays Roblox.
Discussing its broader project portfolio, Starbreeze mentioned that its upcoming Dungeon & Dragons title—codenamed ‘Project Baxter’—is making “substantial progress” and is currently undergoing internal playtesting.
“Throughout and after the quarter, we have engaged in extensive dialogues and game tests with potential partners to maximize the commercial potential of the project, and the feedback has been promising,” it added.
Starbreeze emphasized that third-party publishing remains a priority. “We are actively discussing with developers regarding potential new third-party projects,” it continued. “The primary focus is on identifying titles with potential commercial viability that could be revived or are fully developed as a project. After the end of the quarter, we included Unseen by the Swedish developer The Gang to our collection of third-party games.”
Acting CEO Mats Juhl described the fiscal year as “challenging yet in many aspects also successful” and is confident that Starbreeze is now well-positioned to realize its goal of becoming a multi-title studio.
“We have steadily enhanced the Payday brand through collaborations and improvements, while also making considerable progress with Project Baxter and laying a strong foundation for our third-party publishing efforts,” he stated.
“With a balanced risk profile, a strong cash position, and several ongoing projects nearing critical milestones, we anticipate 2025 with optimism. Our vision to become a leading multi-title studio is more attainable than ever, and we are in an excellent position to continue generating value for our players and stakeholders.”