Starbreeze has published an end-of-year report that summed up performance in 2023, admitting how poorly Payday 3 is performing months after it was released. It was revealed that through 2023, Starbreeze’s net sales amounted to around 60.5 million USD, but the failure of Payday 3 to deliver meant that sales were recorded at ‘significantly lower levels’ than Starbreeze would have liked.
Not Good
In a message from the CEO of Starbreeze, the bleak circumstances surrounding Payday 3 were outlined:
PAYDAY 3’s sales and player activity are currently at significantly lower levels than we would like. Our biggest focus and absolute priority, both during and after the quarter, are the efforts needed to ensure that the game lives up to expectations. We are working closely with our co-publishing partner Plaion to identify the changes that we will implement, in both the short- and long-term, that add the most value to the gaming experience. The PAYDAY team will in February announce the changes and improvements that are prioritized for implementation.
It was stressed that Payday 3 is ‘lagging’ and that Payday 2 is faring ‘better than expected financially’. In the wake of Payday 3’s flawed release, many players flocked to Payday 2. Starbreeze stated that 400,000 active players were logged on Payday 2 in ‘single months during the quarter’, and that a key goal now is to convert those fans of the franchise to Payday 3 players.
There was optimism in the report, though. It was said that Starbreeze is in a good position financially and managed to increase its employee base in 2023. There’s a goal to launch Project Baxter, a live-service Dungeons & Dragons game, in 2026. It’s not all bad – but the failure of Payday 3 won’t be forgotten any time soon.
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