Payday 2 Development Restarting Amid Starbreeze Financial Difficulties

Starbreeze will resume work on Payday 2, with some changes, in an effort to get the company back on track financially. A message from CEO Mikael Nermark posted to the Steam Community frankly outlined the company's current struggles and how it's aiming to make changes to its roadmap ahead.

To start, Nermark explains the background of Starbreeze going into reconstruction, a process similar to US Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It has remained afloat despite being very short on funds, but now the company is making changes to assure it can keep going. And part of that includes going back to developing content for its successful game, Payday 2. But in the process, Nermark also recognizes openly that the studio is "breaking a promise," which he says they do not take lightly.

The Payday 2: Ultimate Edition was proposed as a way to get forever-free DLC, and that commitment is being broken. Nermark says, "We want to move forward and make more of Payday 2, and to do so we need your support to continue producing content."

The Ultimate Edition is being replaced by a new Payday 2: Legacy Collection. The studio is also adding back an a la carte option for individual DLC. More Payday 2 content is coming as well, said to be coming soon.

Starbreeze has been struggling since late last year, when it filed for reconstruction amid low sales of its Walking Dead game. Shortly after, its office was raided as part of an insider trading investigation. Nermark was named acting CEO in December 2018.≈