Payday developer Starbreeze cancels D&D project, lays off staff

Starbreeze Entertainment, the company that created the popular multiplayer heist game series Payday, has reduced its workforce by dozens of employees and halted development on its planned Dungeons & Dragons game, Project Baxter. This decision comes as part of a “strategic shift” aimed at concentrating resources on its primary game, Payday.

In a statement posted on its website, Starbreeze announced the cancellation of Project Baxter, its game based on Dungeons & Dragons. This decision followed a review of the company’s priorities, which determined that focusing on the Payday franchise is the best use of its resources. As a result, 44 employees and contractors working on the new game will be laid off. Starbreeze believes this will allow the company to achieve positive cash flow by 2026.

“We’re fully committed to giving our players more of what they enjoy – and to continuing our strength in the heist game genre,” explained Starbreeze CEO Adolf Kristjansson. “PAYDAY is more than just a game-it’s a genre we pioneered and are still leading. By focusing our team and resources, we can deliver new and exciting heist gameplay more quickly and build a strong future for the genre as a whole.”

A now-removed webpage revealed that Project Baxter was planned as an official Dungeons & Dragons game. It would have featured players working together in a co-operative multiplayer experience, and would have been continuously updated with new content-similar to the game Payday. The game was being developed using Unreal Engine 5 and was initially slated for release in 2026 on all popular gaming platforms.

This news arrives at a challenging time for the video game industry, which has experienced numerous rounds of job cuts recently. Just this week, reports surfaced that Avalanche Studios would be significantly reducing its workforce after the cancellation of their Xbox exclusive game, Contraband, earlier in the year. The company announced the complete closure of its Liverpool location, alongside further layoffs in its Malmo and Stockholm offices.

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2025-10-02 15:46