In an effort to become more lean, Starbreeze Studios will trim the fat off its development and business projects.
Starbreeze today confirmed it's now reformulating its business strategy so it can streamline and lower its development costs. "The company has commenced a project to review operations and has initiated a program to reduce costs and sharpen focus on core business - internal and external development," the company wrote on an update.
When companies make decisions like these it often affects its development slate. It's possible that this move could suspend or even kill off in-development games and also interrupt or forestall updates on current games. Starbreeze made this decision to help buffer its FY2019 earnings, which it says will be significantly positively impacted.
"The actions are expected to generate significant cost savings during the full year 2019 compared to 2018 mainly in non-core business. The long-term target of positive EBITDA for the full year 2018 no longer applies."
I'm curious if Payday 3's development will be affected in any way, ie with release timing, content drops, etc. I'm pretty sure Starbreeze sees Payday as a big cash crop franchise given Payday 2's long-winded lifespan and revenues, so any game in that franchise should be put in the forefront.
Overkill's latest The Walking Dead game could be impacted in some way and we may see microtransactions roll in at some point. The game should be monetized with seasonal-based content that adds new characters, skills, maps, and modes. Right now the game doesn't have mTX purchases, but this could change as Starbreeze tightens its belt and aims to pull in more cashflow.
"We have initiated a review of our costs to ensure better alignment with our revenues. We are designing a program towards that end, naturally while keeping a careful eye on revenue development. We must focus on our core business and ensure delivery of the company's important games," says Starbreeze CFO Sebastian Ahlskog.