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Payday Developer Cancels Its Dungeons & Dragons Game Project Baxter, Resulting In Layoffs
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
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Starbreeze cancels Project Baxter, approximately 44 workers affected by layoffs
Esports

Starbreeze cancels Project Baxter, approximately 44 workers affected by layoffs

by admin October 2, 2025


Starbreeze Entertainment has cancelled Project Baxter, its Dungeons & Dragons games-as-service title.

The decision was made following a strategic review, with the developer concluding “that resources are best deployed to accelerate the growth of [its] flagship Payday franchise.”

Part of the game’s development team will be relocated internally on other Starbreeze projects, while roughly 44 full-time employees and contractors will lose their jobs.

In a statement to Game Developer, the firm clarified that it could not provide an exact number of workers affected by layoffs due to union negotiations.

As a result of Project Baxter’s cancellation, there will be a non-cash impairment of approximately SEK 255 million ($27.2 million) in Q3 2025.

“This was a difficult but necessary decision,” said Starbreeze CEO Adolf Kristjansson. “By focusing our investment and talent [on the Payday franchise], 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.”

Kristjansson added: “I want to sincerely thank the Baxter team for their passion and creativity, and express appreciation to Wizards of the Coast for their support.

“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.”



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October 2, 2025 0 comments
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Payday developer Starbreeze cancels Dungeons and Dragons project to focus on its flagship franchise, two years after it was announced
Game Reviews

Payday developer Starbreeze cancels Dungeons and Dragons project to focus on its flagship franchise, two years after it was announced

by admin October 2, 2025


Starbreeze has cancelled its Dungeons and Dragons project to focus on its flagship Payday franchise.

Codenamed Project Baxter, it was revealed back in 2023 and was aiming for a 2026 release. Few details were available, but it was planned to have “the signature Starbreeze game cornerstones of co-operative multiplayer, lifetime commitment through a Games as a Service-model, community engagement and a larger than life experience”.

However, following a “strategic review”, development has been discontinued as the board of directors and management have “concluded that resources are best deployed to accelerate the growth of” the Payday series.

PAYDAY 3: Second Anniversary BundleWatch on YouTube

As a result, the studio will incur a non-cash impairment of around SEK 255m (around £20m).

“This was a difficult but necessary decision,” said Adolf Kristjansson, CEO of Starbreeze, in a press release.

“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.”

The studio stated “part of the Baxter team will be redeployed across Starbreeze’s projects, most prominently within Payday” and where “internal opportunities are limited, Starbreeze will provide active support for affected employees to transition to new roles across the industry”. It estimates there will be a reduction in headcount of around 44 full-time employees and contractors.

Starbreeze boasted the Payday games have engaged over 50 million players globally, generating almost SEK 4bn in lifetime gross revenue.

“We are doubling down on what our players love – and what we do best – owning the heisting genre,” said Kristjansson. “Payday is more than a game – it’s a genre we created and continue to lead. By redeploying talent and capital, we can bring innovation to heisting gameplay faster, while also laying the foundation for the future expansion of the genre.”

Earlier this year, Starbreeze acquired the publishing rights to its Payday 3 game from Plaion, which launched disastrously in 2023. The acquisition would enable the studio to “significantly accelerate [its] content development roadmap, and pursue broader strategic opportunities for the Payday franchise as a whole,” said board member Thomas Lindgren at the time.



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October 2, 2025 0 comments
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Lenovo cancels Legion Go 2 pre-orders on its own website after demand "substantially exceeded projections"
Game Updates

Lenovo cancels Legion Go 2 pre-orders on its own website after demand “substantially exceeded projections”

by admin September 21, 2025


Lenovo has confirmed that whilst Legion Go 2 units are now making their way to “major retailers globally”, some pre-orders placed on Lenovo’s very own website will “need” to be cancelled.

The company did not confirm how many pre-orders have been affected, but said it was “truly sorry for the inconvenience it has caused”.

Lenovo Legion Go Gen 2 Official Launch Trailer.Watch on YouTube

“[W]e will need to cancel some pre-orders placed directly on Lenovo.com,” the company said in a post on Reddit. “We don’t believe in holding onto customer payments for products we can’t ship in a timely manner. As soon as our online inventory is replenished, Lenovo.com will show updated availability and ordering will reopen.

“We know this is frustrating, and we’re truly sorry for the inconvenience it caused, especially for our most passionate fans. The Legion Go Gen 2 was built with you in mind, and this experience has been an important lesson for us. We’ll use this to improve and ensure a better process moving forward.”

Lenovo states pre-orders “substantially exceeded our projections, leading to unforeseen delivery range extensions”. It says it’s “working diligently with our teams worldwide to fill these orders as quickly as possible. We truly appreciate the overwhelming support of Legion fans, and ask for your patience while we work to get the Legion Go Gen 2 into your waiting hands”.

Dozens of unhappy customers have responded to the statement, some asking why Lenovo is prioritising customers who placed orders with third-party retailers rather than those who pre-ordered directly with the tech company, and questioning why there’s been no compensation for players who paid thousands of dollars months ago, only to find their orders now cancelled. Others say that if their order is not fulfilled, they “won’t buy [from Lenovo] at all”.

“You can’t just state some orders will be cancelled and ride back off into the sunset, state which ones and why! If it’s to do with discount codes say so,” commented one unhappy pre-orderer. “There’s NO reason to cancel someone’s order who is willing to wait other than you don’t like the price they paid for it. ‘We don’t believe in holding onto customer payments’ is a very weak excuse.

“If mine is cancelled, it will be the last straw and I won’t buy it at all, a competitor benefits instead. I won’t wait around constantly checking for a window of opportunity to order again.”

At the time of writing, it’s unclear how long the delay will be for those prepared to wait but Lenovo admitted it had “messed up this time but we promise we’ll move forward with a lot more caution and care because that’s what you, our awesome community, deserves”.

Lenovo’s second-generation handheld gaming PC Legion Go 2 was announced back in January. Alongside its built-in kickstand and ergonomically improved detachable controllers, it sports an 8.8-inch OLED display with VRR support, and comes equipped with either the upcoming AMD Ryzen Z2 or Ryzen Z2 Extreme. You can also boost the spec up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage.



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September 21, 2025 0 comments
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Product Reviews

Lenovo abruptly cancels some Legion Go 2 preorders due to overwhelming demand

by admin September 21, 2025


From a disastrous AMA on Monday to disappointing Legion Go 2 preorder customers on Friday, the Lenovo team is having a hell of a week. To kick things off, the Lenovo Legion team hosted an AMA on Reddit revolving around its gaming handheld launch. The Legion Go 2 generated a ton of hype, being Lenovo’s next-gen gaming handheld with more powerful specs and a higher price tag, but the team only answered 10 questions before abandoning the thread. On Wednesday, Lenovo apologized for not being prepared enough to answer all the questions, but followed it up with a bombshell in an edit posted on Friday, adding that “we will need to cancel some preorders placed directly on Lenovo.com” for the Legion Go 2.

According to the Lenovo team, the demand “substantially exceeded our projections” and led to “unforeseen delivery range extensions.” While the orders with Lenovo’s retail partners, like Best Buy, aren’t affected, anyone who preordered the Legion Go 2 directly on the Lenovo website may see some frustrating news in their inboxes. The cancellations might not be a total shocker, since some user reports are circulating that Lenovo already pushed initial ship dates from September to October with “zero communication about the delay.”

To try to save face, Lenovo explained that “as soon as our inventory is replenished, Lenovo.com will show updated availability and ordering will reopen.” There’s no indication yet if those with canceled orders will get priority with the next batch of available devices, but the Lenovo team said it would respond to the AMA thread’s questions over the rest of the month. However, if Reddit comments are any indication, there’s a good chance a lot of customers won’t reorder following this catastrophic launch.



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September 21, 2025 0 comments
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