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'Payday' Dev Starbreeze Kills Co-Op 'Dungeons & Dragons' Game
Product Reviews

‘Payday’ Dev Starbreeze Kills Co-Op ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Game

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After the success of Baldur’s Gate 3, there’s been talk of Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast releasing more games based on Dungeons & Dragons. Bad news for fans looking forward to that: one of them, a title codenamed “Project Baxter,” has been fully canceled.

The title was in development over at Swedish developer Starbreeze, best known for the Payday franchise and 2012’s Syndicate. In a recent announcement, CEO Adolf Kristjansson said the “difficult but necessary decision” came as the studio is prioritizing a full revamp of its co-op heist franchise Payday. As such, “Baxter” development has been ended, and some of its assigned developers will be “redeployed across Starbreeze’s projects.” Others will be let go and given help by Starbreeze to find employment elsewhere.

“Baxter” was first announced in 2023, with Starbreeze at the time stating it’d feature “signature cornerstones” of its prior works like a live-service model and cooperative play. While the studio’s been quiet on it since then, the game would’ve released sometime in 2026 for “all major platforms.” Around this time in 2024, Starbreeze showed off concept art with a tease that it would show more in the near future.

Dungeons & Dragons is no stranger to live-service games: before Baldur’s Gate 3, there was a co-op-focused reboot of Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance in 2021, and its online servers shut down this past February. Wizards of the Coast, which owns D&D, also cancelled five unannounced games prior to Baldur’s release, some of which were likely D&D games. At the time of writing, a single-player action game from Giant Skull set in the D&D universe—and led by Star Wars: Jedi director Stig Asmussen—remains in development.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.



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Starbreeze cancels Project Baxter, approximately 44 workers affected by layoffs
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Starbreeze cancels Project Baxter, approximately 44 workers affected by layoffs

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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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Payday devs Starbreeze cancel their mystery Dungeons & Dragons game and announce plans to lay off around 44 staff
Game Updates

Payday devs Starbreeze cancel their mystery Dungeons & Dragons game and announce plans to lay off around 44 staff

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Starbreeze have cancelled Project Baxter, the co-op live service Dungeons & Dragons game they announced back in 2023. Part of the development team have been transferred to other projects with Starbreeze, while the remainder get to “transition to new roles across the industry”.

Starbreeze have told us little about Project Baxter over the years, beyond characterising it as an action-adventure that reflects their “lifetime commitment” to Games-as-a-Service, and stating that it would support PC and console crossplay. They announced it with a couple of artworks – one depicting a close-cropped mage in a cape, the other some pointy roofs and pennants. The game surely would have built upon Starbreeze’s established, albeit recently eroded reputation for co-op heisting. Now, however, Starbreeze bosses have decided that doubling down on Payday is the safer route forward.

“This was a difficult but necessary decision,” comments CEO Adolf Kristjansson in a release to investors. “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.”

Around 44 people, spanning employees and contractors, are to lose their roles at Starbreeze in the course of writing off Baxter. The press release adds that “the discontinuation of Baxter, combined with an increased focus on the Payday franchise, will enable Starbreeze to become cash-flow positive in 2026.” For context, cash-flow positive means you have more money coming in over a given period, than going out – it’s not the same as being overall profitable. Starbreeze made a huge loss in their financial year 2024 after a catastrophic launch showing for Payday 3.

Kristjansson ends the release by thanking the Baxter team and D&D license owners Wizards of the Coast, adding that work on Baxter “will carry forward into Payday and the future of Starbreeze”. Maybe they should give the laid-off Baxter team members a Special Thanks credit in Payday 4, assuming that’s next on the agenda. Best of luck to everybody affected.



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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

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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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Starbreeze admits it "dropped the ball" over stealth price increase to DLC bundle
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Starbreeze admits it “dropped the ball” over stealth price increase to DLC bundle

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Starbreeze has admitted it “dropped the ball” after introducing a premium DLC subscription service for Payday 2 at the same time as increasing the price of its DLC bundle Infamous Collection without warning.

The company launched a subscription service for Payday 2 on Steam as part of the franchise’s 12th anniversary celebrations yesterday (September 24). The service offers players access to all the game’s available download content for $4.99 a month (with monthly renewal) or $19.99 for six months, with the option to cancel anytime.

What wasn’t part of the announcement, however, was a 50% hike to the DLC bundle, taking it from $100 to $150, resulting in a vocal backlash from the heist shooter’s long-time community.

In a statement to GameDeveloper, head of commercial Gustav Misser said: “We dropped the ball on coordinating internally and communicating with our community properly.

“The negative reaction makes complete sense, and the community has made it clear how the price change and its timing looks from the outside. We agree with the community, we messed up on this one, and we have reverted the price on the bundle effective immediately.

“In hindsight we should have realized how it would seem,” he added. “Since the bundle only charges for the items you don’t own, and the bundle discount is cumulative with any other discounts (i.e. discounts on the included items), the actual full price of the bundle can vary significantly.”



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