To dig itself out of a big financial hole, Starbreeze Studios will now focus exclusively on developing big marquee titles like Payday and publishing third-party games.
Starbreeze has had a tough few weeks. First its big new Walking Dead game stumbled on PC sales, triggering a big financial disparity that caused the company to re-evaluate is business model. Shortly after, it filed for reconstruction, an overseas form of bankruptcy that protects the company from certain debts. Then Starbreeze's headquarters were raided by authorities and one employee was arrested on suspicions of insider trading. If that wasn't enough, its board of directors is shrinking.
Now the games-maker is taking proactive steps to solve its problems, and is interested in making guaranteed bets like making games. The company announced it's new business model is solely built on making and publishing video games. Other ventures, like its StarVR headset, will essentially break off from its core focus and will rely on partner funding and collaboration.
Ultimately this means that Starbreeze will revert back to a games-maker. Games currently in development like Payday 3 should be given strong attention to care and maximum monetization strategies, meaning more microtransactions and live service schemes.
Starbreeze will reveal more specifics on its new business model before 2018 ends.
"We're now focusing the business towards a portfolio consisting of a mix of internally developed games and publishing titles. We are humble for the task at hand, but our aim to build a qualitative company in the entertainment industry still stands, and the existing portfolio provides a good platform for our first-class teams," acting Starbreeze CEO Mikael Nermark said in a press release.
"Our shift to core enables a larger focus on our internal talents and teams, whilst improving internal organizational and development processes. Innovation and quality, and further on to deliver the best experiences for our players, will be our main goal in this process," said Stephane Decroix, Chief Development Officer.