3 articlesStarbreeze Entertainment, which is known for Payday 2, has laid off some of its employees as they decided to focus all of their resources on further developing Payday 3. At the same time, what could have been a new Dungeons & Dragons game was shelved following the layoffs.
The supposed game was nicknamed Project Baxter, which was developed to be a co-op live service title set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. It was planned to be a live service title, with a target release date sometime in 2026.
Unfortunately, in line with the layoffs, Starbreeze decided to pool its resources to the development of Payday 3 instead. Meanwhile, the remaining employees who were part of Project Baxter will be redistributed to other projects.
What Will Happen Going Forward?
In a recent blog post, Starbreeze CEO Adolf Kristjansson stated that they will be focusing their talents and investment in improving Payday in an effort to engage their players with more content.
Payday 2: New Update 221 Review | New Poison Grenade Launcher, Sniper, and more.May 14, 2022
Payday 2: New McShay Weapon Pack Review | Are They Good?Jan 21, 2026“PAYDAY is more than a game — it’s a genre we created and continue to lead. By redeploying talent and capital, we can bring innovation to heisting gameplay faster, while also laying the foundation for the future expansion of the genre,” said Kristjansson.
It’s worth noting that the layoffs and cancellation took place just around a week after the studio released a new subscription service for the Payday 2 DLC.
Now, the one hurdle that the studio has to go through is how to make Payday 3 more successful than its predecessor. It’s worth noting that while the 12-year-old Payday 2 continues to have a dedicated player base, Payday 3’s is dwindling.
According to the SteamCharts images below, Payday 3 only reached an all-time peak of roughly 69,000 players, as opposed to Payday 2’s 247,000. Starbreeze believes that this move will allow the studio to become cash-flow positive in 2026.
“We are doubling down on what our players love – and what we do best – owning the heisting genre,” said Kristjansson.
Starbreeze is planning to expand the development team for Payday 3 by about 50 employees, though the exact number of employees working on the team remains unknown. For now, however, they have decided to lay off 44 employees in an effort to lower the cost base going forward.
Funnily enough, the layoffs happened just a day after Funcom laid off a bunch of their employees following the “biggest release they’ve had in their 32-year long history of making great games.”
