Following financial underperformance and several tumultuous months in which it laid off around 50 employees, including multiple Project Baxter developers, PAYDAY developer Starbreeze continues its internal restructuring by appointing Adolf Kristjansson as the studio’s new Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2025.
Starbreeze
Revealed in the studio’s official statement, the new CEO joins the team after spending over 13 years at Electronic Arts, where he served as International Commercial Senior Director, Global Head of Digital, and Global Strategic Franchise Director, working on FIFA, Battlefield, Apex, and Star Wars.
It is also worth noting that Mats Juhl, the infamous interim CEO known for laying off developers left and right and being more concerned about developers using proper channels in SBZ’s Slack chat than the livelihood of his employees, was not ousted from the company and will continue serving as Starbreeze’s Chief Financial Officer.
“I join Starbreeze with great enthusiasm for the company’s current and future projects, not the least the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons title,” comments Kristjansson. “I look forward to continuing the work of expanding the PAYDAY franchise further and building Starbreeze into a true multi-title studio. Most of all, I look forward to working closely with our talented teams and engaging with our passionate player community as we build the next chapter of Starbreeze together.”
The part Starbreeze’s official statement failed to mention, however, is that the appointment of the new CEO takes place on the same day the majority of the French office is losing their jobs, following Starbreeze’s decision to shut down the branch entirely.
Previously, several Starbreeze employees from both the French and Stockholm offices told 80 Level that it was announced within the company in mid-March that more than half of the French employees would be dismissed by the end of March, with the remaining staff set to be let go by June. What’s more, the termination process appears to be violating several of France’s labor law, namely Articles L1222-1, L1132-1, and L1233-4 of Code du Travail.
From what we’ve learned, the French division played a crucial role in the technical side of the production pipeline and was largely responsible for patches and DLCs for the company’s games. Before the layoffs, it comprised 23 people, meaning most, if not all, of those 23 are likely to be made redundant by July, with the majority of them becoming jobless tomorrow. You can read our exclusive report on Starbreeze’s quiet firings by clicking this link.
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