Starbreeze Cancels Co-Op Dungeons & Dragons Game Project Baxter, Lays Off Developers, and Doubles Down on Payday

Starbreeze has canceled Project Baxter, its co-op Dungeons & Dragons game, laid disconnected a important information of its improvement team, and announced plans to treble down connected its Payday franchise.

Project Baxter was announced successful December 2023 arsenic an Unreal Engine 5 D&D crippled that would “carry the signature Starbreeze cornerstones of co-operative multiplayer, beingness committedness done a Games arsenic a Service-model, assemblage engagement and a larger than beingness experience.”

The program past was to motorboat Project Baxter connected each large platforms successful 2026 with crossplay. But quality has been scarce, with a societal media station showing disconnected a azygous in-engine representation successful September 2024.

In November past year, Starbreeze said it was inactive hiring for Project Baxter, with enactment connected the crippled continuing “at afloat speed.” “Internally, we person play playtests of Baxter, and progressive discussions with a fig of industry-leading players regarding imaginable collaborations astir Baxter's improvement and launch,” the workplace said astatine the time. As of November 2024, Starbreeze had 191 full employees, astir of which were based astatine its caput bureau successful Stockholm, Sweden.

The determination to cancel Project Baxter has outgo the Swedish institution SEK 255 cardinal (approx. $27.2 million) successful a write-down of improvement costs.

CEO Adolf Kristjansson called it a “difficult but indispensable decision,” but failed to notation immoderate peculiar issues with the improvement of Project Baxter that mightiness person factored in.

“Our strategy is clear: Payday is 1 of the astir iconic IPs successful gaming, with unmatched scope and potential,” Kristjansson said successful a prepared statement. “By focusing our concern and endowment here, we tin accelerate delivery, prosecute players with much content, and reenforce Starbreeze’s presumption arsenic the wide person successful the heisting genre. This is astir sharpening our absorption to make the strongest semipermanent worth for our players, our people, and our shareholders.”

“Part” of the Baxter squad volition beryllium redeployed crossed Starbreeze’s projects, mostly wrong Payday, but astir 44 full-time employees crossed unit and contractors volition suffer their jobs.

“We are doubling down connected what our players emotion – and what we bash champion – owning the heisting genre,” Kristjansson continued. “Payday is much than a crippled — it’s a genre we created and proceed to lead. By redeploying endowment and capital, we tin bring innovation to heisting gameplay faster, portion besides laying the instauration for the aboriginal enlargement of the genre.”

Starbreeze said Payday has had much than 50 cardinal players worldwide and generated adjacent to SEK 4 cardinal (approx. $427 million) successful beingness gross revenue.

“With accrued absorption and resources, Starbreeze volition accelerate its roadmap, delivering much predominant updates, caller contented drops, and continuous live-engagement,” the institution said. “The discontinuation of Baxter, combined with an accrued absorption connected the Payday franchise, volition alteration Starbreeze to go cash-flow affirmative successful 2026.”

Kristjansson added: “I privation to sincerely convey the Baxter squad for their passionateness and creativity, and explicit appreciation to Wizards of the Coast for their support. Though we person made the determination to not proceed guardant with this project, we are arrogant of what was achieved successful Baxter, and those contributions volition transportation guardant into Payday and the aboriginal of Starbreeze. By concentrating our efforts connected Payday we springiness Starbreeze and each our employees the champion accidental to succeed.”

So, what does the aboriginal clasp for Starbreeze? The 12-year-old Payday 2 inactive has importantly much players than Payday 3 connected Steam, but the developer insisted Payday 3 “is being developed into a scalable live-engagement level to prosecute millions of players worldwide.” The Payday 3 squad volition turn to astir 50 employees earlier the extremity of the twelvemonth “and proceed to turn successful enactment with accrued subordinate engagement.”

Meanwhile, Starbreeze said it has caller heist games successful the works, too, including spinoffs and narrative-driven projects, and plans to grow Payday into caller platforms. Meanwhile, it’s offering its services arsenic a work-for-hire studio.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].