Starbreeze Studios

Starbreeze Studios, a Swedish game developer and publisher, has a storied history in the video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 as O3 Games by Magnus Högdahl and seven others, the company underwent a name change to Starbreeze in 2000. A pivotal moment in its early years was the 2002 merger with the smaller studio, Rock Solid Games, which brought key individuals like Magnus and Fredrik Ljungdahl into the fold and set the stage for its future direction. The studio's journey began with a focus on creating its own intellectual properties, leading to the development of its first title, *The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay*, released in 2004. This game was a critical success and established Starbreeze's reputation for developing high-quality, narrative-driven action games.

The company's trajectory took a significant turn with the acquisition of Overkill Software in 2012, a move that brought the highly successful *PAYDAY* intellectual property under its umbrella. The *PAYDAY* franchise, a series of cooperative first-person shooter games centered around heists, became the cornerstone of Starbreeze's portfolio and its primary revenue driver. The business model revolves around the development and sale of these premium games (a one-time purchase) for PC and consoles, supplemented by a steady stream of downloadable content (DLC) that offers new heists, characters, and weapons, creating a long-tail revenue stream from its dedicated player base. Following a period of financial reconstruction between late 2018 and late 2019, Starbreeze has focused its strategy almost exclusively on the core business of developing and publishing games within the *PAYDAY* franchise and other owned IPs. This strategic refocus led to the divestment of several non-core assets, including publishing rights for titles like *Dead by Daylight*.

Publicly traded on the Nasdaq Stockholm, Starbreeze operates with a team of around 130 employees. Its primary product, *PAYDAY 2*, has maintained a large and active community for over a decade, selling more than 40 million copies and becoming one of the most-played games on the Steam platform. The latest installment, *PAYDAY 3*, was launched in September 2023, developed in-house and co-published with Deep Silver. The company's operational structure includes development studios in Stockholm and Barcelona, supported by publishing and administrative functions. Starbreeze generates revenue globally through digital distribution platforms such as Steam, PlayStation Store, and Microsoft Store, targeting a worldwide audience of PC and console gamers. Keywords: game development, video game publishing, PC games, console games, cooperative shooter, first-person shooter, PAYDAY franchise, downloadable content, digital distribution, Nasdaq Stockholm