Starbreeze is Cutting More Heads While Payday 3 Continues Its Slow Walk Into the Grave
Starbreeze is back in the news for all the wrong reasons as another round of layoffs reportedly guts the team still clinging to the wreckage of Payday 3.
I really wanted to believe that Starbreeze had a plan. After the disastrous launch of Payday 3 over two years ago, we were told that the studio was closing ranks to focus on their flagship heist simulator. We saw the layoffs back in October 2025 when they axed their Dungeons and Dragons project. The message then was clear. Everything is being sacrificed for Payday. Well, apparently the altar is still hungry. Seeing reports like this feels like watching a slow-motion car crash that just refuses to end. You want to look away but then you hear the sound of more glass breaking and realize there are still people inside.
The Morning Axe: Reports of More Layoffs
The news broke earlier today when Kknowley spotted signs of a fresh round of departures at the Stockholm-based studio. While we do not have the hard numbers on how many people are being shown the door this time, the sentiment on the ground is grim. This is not just some routine corporate restructuring. This looks like a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding at a company that has bet its entire existence on a game that most people have already stopped playing.
The general consensus is that Payday 3 is effectively dead. I have seen some optimistic fans hoping for a redemption arc similar to No Man's Sky or Cyberpunk. But those games actually had a massive player base willing to wait. Payday 3 is currently struggling to outpace its own predecessor. That is a fucking embarrassing place to be after two years of development.
Payday 3 is the Gift That Keeps on Sinking
The real tragedy here is that the workers are the ones paying for the management’s inability to read a room. Payday 3 launched in a state that was frankly insulting to anyone who paid full price. Between the always-online requirement and a progression system that felt like it was designed by someone who hates fun, the game never stood a chance.
A Single-IP Death Trap
When Starbreeze killed Project Baxter back in late 2025, they claimed it was a strategic move to focus on their most iconic IP. Putting all your eggs in one basket is a risky move. It is even riskier when that basket has a giant hole in the bottom. Now that they are reportedly laying off even more of the Payday 3 staff, it makes you wonder what is actually left of the roadmap.
You can only refine a game for so long before you realize that the foundation is just rotten. If the rumors of these new layoffs are true, the planned content updates for 2026 are likely going to be skeletons of what was promised. I genuinely feel for the developers who are losing their jobs today. They were probably the ones busting their asses to fix a mess they did not create.
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