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Game Updates

Complete History Of Middle-Earth Collector’s Box Set Restocked With $170 Discount

by admin October 4, 2025

After selling out earlier this week, The Complete History of Middle-earth: Collector’s Box Set is back in stock at Amazon with a massive discount. The 5,440-page, three-book collector’s set is on sale for $80.65 (was $250) in Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days book promotion. The 68% drop–nearly $170 off–is the steepest price cut offered by Amazon since William Morrow published the collector’s set in 2020. Since Amazon has already sold out of this deal multiple times this week, you probably shouldn’t wait too long to snag this one. Like many other J.R.R. Tolkien and Lord of the Rings book deals Amazon is offering this weekend, you need to be a Prime member to get The Complete History of Middle-earth for this low price.

Alternatively, all four of the 2024 hardcover box sets collecting The History of Middle-earth and The Silmarillion are on sale for up to 66% off.

$80.65 (was $250) | Restocked on October 4

Published in 2020 with an MSRP of $250, The Complete History of Middle-earth is a wonderfully designed and constructed box set. Each book is heavy, but even the 2,000-plus page second volume offers a pleasant reading experience. Each book comes with a dust jacket and can be stored and displayed in a premium, custom-built case emblazoned with J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic logo.

Based on Tolkien’s Legendarium–a massive collection of backstories, lore, and notes covering Middle-earth throughout thousands of years–The History of Middle-earth was originally published from 1983-1996. Christopher Tolkien, the author’s son and literary executor, compiled, edited, and added to the legendarium to create 12 distinct books.

The Complete History of Middle-earth contains all 12 volumes in their original publication chronology:

Book of Lost Tales, Part I
Book of Lost Tales, Part II
The Lays of Beleriand
The Shaping of Middle-earth
The Lost Road and Other Writings
The Return of the Shadow
The Treason of Isengard
The War of the Ring
Sauron Defeated
Morgoth’s Ring
The War of the Jewels
The Peoples of Middle-earth

At 5,440 pages across three books, it’s probably safe to say that these would be the largest books on most fans’ bookshelves. Each of the three volumes was also published individually on the same day as the box set, but at current prices, you’d spend more for two of them than you would for the box set.

The History of Middle-earth Box Sets (2024)

The History of Middle-earth 2024 Box Sets

Though The Complete History of Middle-earth is the most economical way to read all 12 volumes in physical format, the 2024 box sets are certainly worth a look, too. These gorgeous sets include splashy, fully illustrated dust jackets and display cases. If you prefer a more traditional look, the other side of the reversible dust jackets feature the original graphics with solid-color backgrounds.

All 12 volumes are included as individual books across the four sets, but if you go this route, you’ll also get a few extra books. Publisher William Morrow decided to include The Silmarillion as the first book in Box Set 1. The Silmarillion, Tolkien’s best-known work besides The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, is often lumped in with The History of Middle-earth these days–and it makes sense why. Early drafts and parts of the 1977 classic are actually in the 12-volume series. Box Set 1 also includes Unfinished Tales, while the final set has a book-length index.

William Morrow continued its series of decorative Tolkien hardcover box sets this summer with Tolkien Myths and Legends, a four-book box set that’s on sale for $53.70 (was $125), and The Great Tales of Middle-earth, which contains Tolkien’s final three novels and is on sale for $75 (was $125).

Prime Big Deal Days: The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion

The Lord of the Rings Collector’s Editions (William Morrow)

Amazon’s early Prime Big Deal Days book sale is filled with Tolkien books, including multiple collectible editions of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion.

The Lord of the Rings Collector’s Editions (2024)

Read our in-depth story on The Lord of the Rings Collector’s Editions.

The Lord of the Rings: Tolkien Illustrated Editions

Read our in-depth story on the Tolkien Illustrated Special Editions.

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October 4, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Baldur’s Gate 3 custom campaign mod Path to Menzoberranzan breaks silence with update on development re-think and character reveal tease

by admin October 4, 2025

The modders behind a Baldur’s Gate 3 custom campaign dubbed Path to Menzoberranzan have put out their first progress update in a few months, having gone silent just after getting their first build working around June. The reason for that quiet spell, according to the group, has been a “wild” summer in which they’ve had to revamp their development pipeline to better fit the scale they’re aiming for with the mod.

They’ve also teased full reveals of three characters who’ll be playing roles in what the Path to Menzoberranzan team have thus far pitched as a custom adventure through some returning locations from previous games in the series to the Drow city that serves as the mod’s namesake.

“It’s been a while since our last progress update, but rest assured that we’ve been working hard behind the scenes,” Path to Menzoberranzan community manager Andrew Simone wrote in this latest announcement on the mod’s Discord server. “We promise the silence has been for a very good reason.”

“The past few months have been wild: what started as a rebuild of one area of Baldur’s Gate II has grown into a full-scale campaign,” he explained. “That leap has meant re-thinking a lot of our processes, from how we collaborate to how we build content. Our summer was spent tightening up our production pipeline so we can deliver something truly special!”

Simone went to on the add that the mod’s team “is kicking back into high gear, more so than ever before”, before teasing full reveals of “some unique individuals” including “a Drow cleric of Eilistraee, a swashbuckling human, a man resembling Frankenstein’s monster, and more!”

There’s no mention of the demo which the modders looked close to releasing around the time of their June update, with a Q and A section of the mod’s Discord that was last updated in June reading: “The team is working towards the first playable demo. At this time, the timeline for this demo is under review.” So, it’d seem the need for these few months of rejigging has led the group to move away from their original plan of aiming to release said demo around 2025’s midpoint.

Those sorts of changes or delays understandably always lead to folks wondering whether the project’s in danger of fizzling out, given how many ambitious mods have suffered that fate. Though, it’s worth noting that there have also been plenty of big mods which’ve still delivered despite certain elements taking longer than originally expected. While it’s a mod that’s been in development much longer than Path to Menzoberranzan, Fallout: London developers Team FOLON have only just released their first DLC, announced all the way back in December 2024. Some extra work on future save compatibility was acknowledged as part of the reason why that ended up being the time it took.

This latest Path to Menzoberranzan update concluded with an announcement that the modders are recruiting for six roles across their technical, user experience and design departments. These gigs are for a systems programmer, an integration programmer, a UX designer, a systems UX lead, an emotional UX lead, and game designer. If you’re interested, more details can be found via the recruiting channel of the mod’s Discord server.

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October 4, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Ubisoft and Tencent form new subsidiary, Vantage Studios, to lead development for the Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six franchises

by admin October 4, 2025

The breakout game development business co-owned by Tencent and Ubisoft finally has a name: Vantage Studios. Eurogamer understands from a source that it’s starting operations today, and will be responsible for new games across many of Ubisoft’s biggest IPs, such as Far Cry, Rainbow Six Siege, and Assassin’s Creed.

Vantage Studios is composed of 2,300 employees across multiple Ubisoft game development teams, including those from Montreal Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Sofia, and Barcelona. The studio will be run by the duo of Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot.

Vantage Studios operate under a less centralised model compared to Ubisoft proper, with each development team having more ownership over its own respective project. This in theory would allow developers to be more fluid, and pivot according to industry changes and player expectations, per Eurogamer sources.

Check out Eurogamer’s video review of Assassin’s Creed Shadows here.Watch on YouTube

The formation of Vantage Studios comes as the climax of a tumultuous period for Ubisoft, which reportedly was considering this new venture with Tencent in January of this year following years of lacking performance. This new venture, which would bring many of Ubisoft’s biggest IPs under a new roof, was officially announced in March with Tencent taking a €1.16bn stake in the new business entity.

As for Tencent’s involvement, the Chinese company will have a 25 percent stake in Vantage Studios, and will act in an advisory role to the subsidiary’s leadership team. However, Guillemot and Derennes will retain control over both creative and business decisions. Ubisoft hopes this will allow its teams to have a better degree of creative freedom, per a source familiar with the subject.

How other studios, most notably Massive Entertainment, will operate going forward currently remains unlear. Eurogamer understands the publisher wants its devs to operate in a more decentralised way, with developers taking more ownership of the titles they’re working on – the company employs approximately 20,000 staff at the time of writing (per its site), and how the other ~17,000 staff will fit into this new vision remains to be seen.

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October 4, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Helldivers 2 Dev Explains Why The Game Takes Up So Much Space On PC

by admin October 4, 2025

Have you ever noticed that Helldivers 2 takes up a lot more room on PC than it does on either Xbox Series X|S or PlayStation 5? At 150GB, the game is roughly three times bigger on PC than on consoles. According to Arrowhead game studio deputy technical director Brendan Armstrong, the reason why is that Helldivers 2 is still catering to a small segment of PC users.

In a lengthy post on Steam, Armstrong wrote that Helldivers 2’s install footprint is so large because most of it is duplicated for the benefit of players who still use mechanical hard disk drives. It’s an antiquated process that features duplicate data grouped close together in order to reduce loading times. Armstrong notes that the duplication is not necessary for players who have long since upgraded to solid state drives, but Arrowhead has had difficulty determining how many players remain on mechanical HDDs.

“How many Helldivers 2 players are still using mechanical HDD? The truth is that we don’t currently know,” Armstrong wrote. “Even the Steam user surveys are unable to give us data on mechanical HDD use in the overall gamer population. Our best estimates put it at around 12% of all PC gamers, but the data is very unreliable and relies on a lot of extrapolations. Until we can more accurately determine the number of mechanical HDDs that Helldivers 2 is installed on, it is difficult to know how many players will be impacted by reducing the amount of data duplication. Even if that number is small, keep in mind that the load time for each player dropping into a mission is determined by the slowest member of the squad.”

Armstrong laid out some potential solutions and noted that the next update will make some progress towards shrinking the file size. However, he warns that players may not notice the difference “because the new stuff we’ve added will eat those gains.” For a medium-term solution, Arrowhead plans to bundle common assets together rather than featuring so many duplicate files. The downside is that it will make the game slightly slower for mechanical HDD users, but he hopes to keep the load times to “less than 30 seconds.”

Going forward, Arrowhead will also work to improve its engine and improve compression techniques that reduce the need for duplication. However, Armstrong added that the studio doesn’t know yet if the impact on load times will make this an infeasible solution.

Arrowhead Game Studio CEO Shams Jorjani recently stated that the team’s goal for Helldivers 2 is to keep it going forever, rather than moving on to Helldivers 3. The studio also released a patch that tackled cave crashes and audio bugs. More recently, Arrowhead acknowledged a long list of problems to address, including “issues including performance drops, stability hiccups, freezes, and the annoying audio bugs.” An update is planned for later this month, but many of those issues may take more time to fix.

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October 4, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Peak co-devs Aggro Crab unleash co-op forklifty mayhem with Crashout Crew, which’ll have a demo soon

by admin October 4, 2025

Ok, so if you’re one of those high-vis types who can be driven up the wall by health and safety code violations, you might want to look away. Crashout Crew, a co-op chaos-generator all about forklifts, has been revealed by Peak co-developers Aggro Crab, with sights set on a 2026 release preceded by a Steam demo this month.

I told you to look away, high-vis types! Why are you already running to management with a written demand that all heavy machinery can’t be drifted around at top speed and slammed into boxes?

Watch on YouTube

Anyway, forget about them, Crashout Crew looks like a great laugh. You can up to four mates are strapped into forklifts that can boost and drift, with the mission of grabbing various good strewn around a warehouse, and pushing a big red button to jet them off on the right conveyor belts. Failure to do so results in quotas not being hit, and presumably a telling off. As you progress, you can add extra quirks or wrinkles to the action via safety violations, much like in real life.

“After the recent cancellation of Going Under 2, the studio decided to explore the whimsy multiplayer side of game development,” Aggro Crab wrote of how it came to be. “While some of Aggro Crab developed PEAK with Landfall, the rest of the studio locked in to produce Crashout Crew!”

A full release in 2026 is being aimed for, but ahead of that Crashout Crew’ll be getting a demo on October 13th, as part of the upcoming Steam Next Fest. You’ll be able to give the first three levels a go and see if the chaos offered is up to snuff.

Aggro Crab have also made clear that Peak, the co-opper based around going for hikes up big hills developed by themselves and Landfall Games, will still be getting updates. The studio plan to dual wield goofy creations in their quest to ensure that every being on Earth must have at least one chuckle with their colleagues while playing a video game.

It’s a noble cause, and also a formula that’s yielded Peak a considerable amount of success so far. So, let’s see if doubling down will rocket Aggro Crab’s forklift to even greater heights.

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October 4, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part Three won’t be impacted by multiplatform approach, says director, despite Xbox’s problematic “lack of memory”

by admin October 4, 2025

Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi has stated the multiplatform approach for Part Three won’t impact development “whatsoever”.

With Remake Intergrade heading to Switch 2 and Xbox consoles next year, Square Enix confirmed the full trilogy would be multiplatform. That said, we don’t yet know the release date for Rebirth on Switch 2 and Xbox, and it’s unknown if part three will be a simultaneous multiplatform release or staggered with PlayStation leading.

Still, it seems this multiplatform approach is working out just fine, as Hamaguchi told Easy Allies for Part Three “we do have designated teams working on each platform so that our multiplatform approach won’t impact the development whatsoever”.

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE – Release Date Announcement – Nintendo Switch 2Watch on YouTube

Yet while “development for both Nintendo Switch 2 Rebirth and the third installment are going very smoothly”, it seems the Xbox consoles are proving a little more problematic.

“As for the Xbox version, like many other publishers, I think we did see some issues with the lack of memory compared with other platforms,” said Hamaguchi. While he doesn’t specify, presumably he’s referring to the less powerful Series S console, which proved tricky for Baldur’s Gate 3 studio Larian among others.

“But as for the Switch 2 releases,” Hamaguchi continued, “we actually have the main dev team working really hard on this. As a result I think we’re pretty confident with the end product, we did get some great reviews for FF7 Remake Intergrade so I hope the fans look forward to it.”

Indeed, in an interview with Automaton earlier this week, Hamaguchi praised the Switch 2’s “great hardware specs”.

“However,” he added, “due to power consumption constraints, it’s designed to dial back performance a bit in handheld mode. So, since a straightforward port wouldn’t be enough to make the game run stably in handheld mode, we had our talented rendering programmers put in extra work on optimisation.”

The key to ensuring the game still looks great, though, is a focus on lighting.

“I believe lighting is the crucial factor in terms of graphics quality and expression in this day and age,” said Hamaguchi. Approximating the lighting would have made the game feel “cheap”, he explained, and so the development team has reduced the processing load in other areas – such as post-effects and fog – to retain high quality lighting.

Hamaguchi has been doing the rounds for interviews as part of last week’s Tokyo Game Show.

In another interview he discussed the gameplay of Part Three further, stating he didn’t want to “deliver just exactly the same style of gameplay experience as we had with Rebirth again”. Instead it will be evolved to offer a “fresh take on the Final Fantasy 7 gameplay”.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade will be released on Switch 2 and Xbox consoles on 22nd January next year. It adds boost options to help players progress quicker, which will retroactively be added to the PS5 and PC versions too.

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October 4, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Surprise Unity Exploit Gets Pillars Of Eternity 2 And More Yanked From Steam

by admin October 3, 2025

Obsidian Entertainment is pulling Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, Pentiment, and more from Steam and other digital storefronts on Friday after Unity, the game engine used to make them, was revealed to have a years-old security flaw. The company behind it is now urging developers to update their games to avoid any issues.

“A security vulnerability was identified that affects games and applications built on Unity versions 2017.1 and later for Android, Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems,” former Xbox mascot Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb wrote on the Unity forum earlier today. “There is no evidence of any exploitation of the vulnerability, nor has there been any impact on users or customers.”

Hryb added that the company “proactively provided fixes that address the vulnerability, and they are already available to all developers” and is encouraging all of them to update their products as soon as possible. Windows, Steam, and others already implemented fixes at the platform level today. Now some studios are taking their games down while they get them patched. One of them is Grounded 2 maker Obsidian Entertainment.

A security vulnerability affecting our games that use Unity has recently been identified.

As a precaution and to keep you safe, we have temporarily removed the following titles and products from digital storefronts while we implement the necessary updates to address the issue:…

— Obsidian (@Obsidian) October 3, 2025

“As a precaution and to keep you safe, we have temporarily removed the following titles and products from digital storefronts while we implement the necessary updates to address the issue,” it wrote on X. In addition to Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and Pentiment, it also includes certain versions of Grounded 2 and Avowed which include artbooks made with Unity.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” the studio wrote. “Our team is working on a fix and will restore these games as soon as possible. We will provide additional information once they are available again. We also encourage players who have already downloaded these games to update them as soon as a patch becomes available.”

Hey everyone,

We’ve rolled out a quick patch to address the Unity security vulnerability.

Your saves and gameplay are safe! Just hit update and you’re covered. And if you haven’t joined yet, No Rest for the Wicked is 30% off on Steam right now. This is the perfect moment to…

— No Rest for the Wicked (@wickedgame) October 3, 2025

Other developers have also started rolling out updates, some without temporarily removing their games from digital store shelves. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and Pentiment, both great games, were currently discounted for Steam’s autumn sale. Hopefully, they’re back soon.

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October 3, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Get Super Mario And Kirby Switch 2 Wireless Controllers For Up To 50% Off

by admin October 3, 2025

With Nintendo’s official Pro Controllers for Switch 1/2 now priced at $80/$90, it has become quite expensive to pick up first-party gamepads for Players 2-4. Thankfully, there are officially licensed third-party controllers with lower prices and Nintendo’s seal of approval. And ahead of next week’s Prime Big Deal Days sale, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 owners can save big on over a dozen wireless controllers produced by PowerA, Nintendo’s most prolific official partner.

Most of the controllers on sale are themed around popular Nintendo franchises, with plenty of Super Mario and Pokemon models discounted by up to 50%. Arguably the best design on sale–and currently the top seller of the bunch–is the ultra-cute Kirby Mouthful Wireless Controller for $30 (was $50). You’ll also find Princess Peach and Super Mario versions for $30 each. For King Koopa fans, the Bowser-themed wireless controller with back buttons is only $27 (was $45). You can check out those three models and more with huge discounts in the gallery below.

$30 (was $50)

Inspired by Mouthful Mode in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the adorable design makes it appear as if Kirby just inhaled your Nintendo Switch controller.

This is a standard PowerAo Wireless Controller, which means it uses AA batteries (included) and doesn’t have back buttons. You can get up to 40 hours of game time before needing to swap out the batteries. We’d recommend grabbing a pack of rechargeable batteries such as this popular 8-pack with a charger for $22 (was $29).

PowerA’s Switch controllers offer great ergonomics and solid performance for the price. The Kirby Mouthful Controller has six-axis motion controls, but it doesn’t have rumble motors, an IR camera, or an NFC reader for Amiibo.

Note: PowerA’s Enhanced Wireless Controllers have two remappable back buttons and charge via USB-C. The Bowser controller and this Legend of Zelda controller split the difference by having back buttons and AA batteries. You’ll also see a couple Enhanced models with PowerA’s Lumectra RGB lighting effects. All of the controllers have very similar form factors with the exception of the Mario Victory Nano Controller, which has a compact form factor and is on sale for 50% off.

While none of the controllers in our gallery have the Switch 2’s new C button for GameChat, PowerA is releasing three wireless models in its Advantage line with the GameChat button and Hall Effect sticks on October 30.

If you like having back buttons on your controllers and want even more customization options, we’d highly recommend checking out 8BitDo’s Ultimate and Pro series. 8BitDo released new iterations of both this year. The 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Bluetooth Controller is on sale for $60 (was $70); if you prefer aligned thumbsticks like a PlayStation controller, the 8BitDo Pro 3 Gamepad with GameCube-inspired color schemes is up for grabs for $63 (was $70). Check out our story on the Ultimate 2 for more details.

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October 3, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

My insatiable lust for windmill flirtation will have to stay contained until next year, as Building Relationships is delayed

by admin October 3, 2025

It’s inching closer to last thing UK time on a Friday, so my job is to bring you the single most devastating and depressing bit of news I can to get the weekend started right. Building Relationships, the funky little game in which you play a house in search of a romantic connection with another building, has had its full release delayed to early 2026.

See, I told you it’d be devastating. A few months’ extra wait until you can engage in more vaguely flirty banter with a windmill. I knew I should have insisted we develop some embeddable tissues which could be inserted into articles.

“It was a tough decision, but I wanted to give more time for the game to breathe — to polish on the narrative and ensure that the game feels smooth,” developer Tanat Boozayaangool wrote in a Steam post about the delay. “I want to tell a meaningful story through this game, but right now, everything feels rushed. I’m thankful for the reception on this game so far, grateful for all the opportunities that the community has enabled for me.

“But looking at the game as a whole, it just needs a lil bit more time. This will also give the team time to work through bugs, optimization, and accessibility features to ensure that we launch with the best version of Building Relationships. Rest assured, that the end is in sight: the story arc has been set, the plot determined — I just need to give it a bit more polish.”

They then shared a teaser image of the player building sitting next to a windmill in a garden. COME ON, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE MAKING THE ADDED WAIT EASIER.

I digress. While I played the Steam demo for Building Relationships (which is still live if you want to dive in) after reading some Next Fest coverage Oisin wrote about it back when both of us were at brash and occasionally funny RPS sister site VG247, both Edwin and Nic have also written about it here. Here’s an except from the former’s piece that neatly sums out what the game’s all about:

Building Relationships stands out the most in hindsight because it felt the most at ease in its own skin and also, because it’s not every day you get to chat up a small apartment building. (I personally wouldn’t date an apartment building because all the ones I’ve lived in had mold, but this one had a certain forlorn charisma, reminiscent of that friend who’s too busy pairing off everybody else to find love himself.) It’s a pocket open worlder with boisterous katamari physics in which you bounce about fluttering your curtains at bungalows and completing very simple quests, such as fishing (in this case, for cars). It is a game wholly invested in the act of enjoying a pun, which is surely the definition of a promising first date. It has pleasantly daft writing, blossoming biomes that remind me of Proteus a bit, and some amusing camera angle choices during conversation.

Right, I’m off to try and distract myself until early next year with some non-building related puns.

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October 3, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Payday Developer Cancels Its Dungeons & Dragons Game Project Baxter, Resulting In Layoffs

by admin October 3, 2025

Payday developer Starbreeze announced yesterday that it has ceased development of Project Baxter, its cooperative game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. The cancellation will result in layoffs at the studio.

Project Baxter was first announced in December 2023 with a 2026 launch window, and was billed as an Unreal Engine 5-developed cooperative multiplayer Dungeons & Dragons game. It was also described as a live-service game, though the extent of which was never made clear. Project Baxter was slated to launch on all major platforms and would have supported cross-play.

Although we don’t know what state Project Baxter was in for Starbreeze to abandon the game, the company states that after a strategic review, its management and the board of directors determined it would be financially healthier to divert the resources allocated to Project Baxter to “accelerate the growth” of its flagship Payday franchise.

“This was a difficult but necessary decision,” said Adolf Kristjansson, CEO of Starbreeze. “Our strategy is clear: Payday is one of the most iconic IPs in gaming, with unmatched reach and potential. By focusing our investment and talent here, we can accelerate delivery, engage players with more content, and reinforce Starbreeze’s position as the clear leader in the heisting genre. This is about sharpening our focus to create the strongest long-term value for our players, our people, and our shareholders.”

Payday 3

Although Starbreeze states that some of the Project Baxter development team will be reassigned to other projects (mostly Payday), it plans to let go of 44 employees and contractors in an effort to “enable Starbreeze to become cash-flow positive in 2026.”

“I want to sincerely thank the Baxter team for their passion and creativity, and express appreciation to Wizards of the Coast for their support,” says Kristjansson. Though we have made the decision to not continue forward with this project, we are proud of what was achieved in Baxter, and those contributions will carry forward into Payday and the future of Starbreeze. By concentrating our efforts on Payday we give Starbreeze and all our employees the best chance to succeed.”

Starbreeze’s last release, Payday 3, was released in September 2023 in a troubled state and failed to hit sales expectations (here’s our review). This resulted in the departure of then-CEO Tobias Sjögren less than six months later. In December 2024, 15 percent of Starbreeze’s staff were laid off. Kristjansson became the new CEO in March of this year.

Project Baxter joins several high-profile cancellations this year, which include Monolith Productions’ Wonder Woman, EA’s Black Panther, Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link, Xbox’s Perfect Dark and Everwild, and Avalanche’s Contraband.

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October 3, 2025 0 comments