Starbreeze believes a number of platform partnerships and collaborations could set Payday 3 on the road to recovery, but net sales associated with the title have plummeted year-over-year.
As noted in its fiscal report for the full-year ended December 2024, Starbreeze delivered annual net sales of SEK 185.9 million ($17.3 million)–down on the SEK 633.5 million ($59.1 million) recorded last year.
That downturn in sales and rising costs resulted in Starbreeze reporting an annual loss of SEK 199.1 million ($18.5 million).
Payday 2 accounted for SEK 41.8 million ($3.9 million) of net sales–down on the SEK 139.1 million ($13 million) amassed last year. Starbreeze said demand for the aging title (which debuted in 2013) remains “stable.”
Payday 3 delivered net sales of SEK 82.9 million ($7.7 million) across the entire fiscal year–a significant decrease on the SEK 477 million ($44.5 million) it achieved last year.
Putting those numbers into context, Payday 3 launched in September 2023. According to Starbreeze, it was already massively underperforming by December 2023 and was in dire need of rehabilitation.
At the time, the Swedish company said the threequel was operating at “significantly lower levels” than anticipated. To remedy the situation, Starbreeze formed a strike team of veteran developers to reshape the experience and said it must “take players’ criticism to heart.”
It subsequently ousted (now former) CEO Tobias Sjögren after claiming it needed new leadership to execute a strategy “centered around creating attractive games on our own and licensed IPs.”
Can cross-platform collaborations help Payday 3 find an audience?
Appraising the current state of play, Starbreeze indicated Payday 3 is now in a position to grow after the launch of a major remedial update towards the end of 2024. The company said it has also worked to strengthen the “presence and visibility” of the franchise across multiple platforms.
“At this time of writing, Payday 3 is one of the games of the month on PlayStation Plus, meaning that during February it will be available for anyone with a Plus subscription to download and play,” said Starbreeze.
“The collaboration with PlayStation will contribute positively to Payday’s revenue in the first quarter of 2025, but most of all, it is an incredible opportunity to let millions of people try Payday 3 as it is today, after 1.5 years of hard work to improve the game both functionally and content-wise.”
Starbreeze is also working to launch Payday experiences within other game platforms such as PUBG and Roblox. It believes those ‘brand extension’ initiatives will introduce the title to new audiences–including the “younger” playerbase that calls Roblox home.
Discussing its wider project slate, Starbreeze said its upcoming Dungeon & Dragons title–codenamed ‘Project Baxter’–is making “significant progress” and is currently being playtested internally.
“During and after the quarter, we have ongoing in-depth conversations and game tests with potential partners to maximize the project’s commercial potential, and the response has been positive,” it added.
Starbreeze explained third-party publishing also remains a priority. “We are in ongoing discussions with developers of potential new third-party projects,” it continued. “The focus is on finding titles with clear commercial potential that are long gone, or fully developed, as a project. After the end of the quarter, we added Unseen by Swedish developer The Gang to our portfolio of third-party games.”
Acting CEO Mats Juhl described the fiscal year as “intense but in many ways also successful” and believes Starbreeze is now well-positioned to realize its ambition of becoming a multi-title studio.
“We have continued to strengthen the Payday brand through collaborations and enhancements, while making great progress with Project Baxter and establishing a strong foundation for our third-party publishing,” he added.
“With a balanced risk profile, strong cash position and several ongoing projects approaching important milestones, we look forward to 2025. Our vision to be a leading multi-title studio is more realistic than ever, and we are well positioned to continue building value for our players and owners.”