Report: Payday developer Starbreeze is making more layoffs
The company previously confirmed a round of job cuts in October 2025.
Payday maker Starbreeze Studios has reportedly issued a new round of job cuts across its staff.
As first reported by Insider Gaming yesterday, multiple Starbreeze employees have written messages alluding to recent layoffs at the studio.
"I was affected by the new wave of layoffs at Starbreeze," reads a LinkedIn post from one impacted employee who was at the studio since May 2023. "I am looking for a sound designer/game audio job."
"Due to the recent layoffs at Starbreeze, my role has been identified as at risk of redundancy, so I’m beginning to look at what’s next," another employee wrote. A third source accounted that they received "some bad news yesterday," which could mean the job cuts were announced sometime this week.
Starbreeze is yet to acknowledge the reported job cuts publicly. Back in October of last year, the developer cancelled an upcoming Dungeons & Dragons project, codenamed Project Baxter, to refocus on the Payday franchise. This resulted in around 44 people, including contractors and full-time employees, being laid off, while others were redeployed across other Starbreeze projects.
Starbreeze underwent several organizational changes after Payday 3 underperformed
Starbreeze spent 2025 steadily shaking things up internally. In August, the company appointed EA veteran Jonas Skantz as general manager of the Payday franchise. This was the second managerial change of 2025, with fellow EA veteran Adolf Kristjansson being appointed as the new CEO with the goal of turning the company into a "true multi-title studio" back in March.
These changes came after Starbreeze explained Payday 3 was performing at "significantly lower levels" than it would have liked by February 2024. As noted in Starbreeze's fiscal report for the full-year ended December 2024, the company delivered annual net sales of SEK 185.9 million (around $17.3 million), compared to SEK 633.5 million ($58.1 million) recorded in FY2023.
In August, Starbreeze said that its PUBG collaboration project was the "single largest revenue contributor" during the period of January to June 2025. Yet, the company emphasized that leveraging the "full potential of the Payday IP" continues to be a "key strategic priority" for the studio.
Game Developer has contacted Starbreeze Studios for clarification on the matter.