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Payday 3 developer Starbreeze ousts CEO Tobias Sjogren

Starbreeze Entertainment has named Juergen Goeldner its interim CEO.

Donovan Erskine

March 12, 2024 10:50 AM

Deep Silver

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It’s no secret that Payday 3 had a rocky launch last year due to severe server issues and some unfavorable design decisions. Since then, developer Starbreeze Studios has worked tirelessly to improve the state of the game and support it with new content, and a change of leadership has been made as it looks to right the ship. Tobias Sjögren has been fired as CEO of Starbreeze Entertainment, and the company is actively recruiting his permanent replacement.

Starbreeze Entertainment published a letter on its website today to announce the departure of Tobias Sjögren as CEO. “On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank Tobias Sjögren for his achievements during the past three years. Tobias took over the helm of Starbreeze in a challenging phase of its journey and we wish him well in his future endeavors,” wrote Torgny Hellström, Chairman of Starbreeze.

Juergen Goeldner has been appointed as interim CEO of Starbreeze Entertainment as the company seeks a permanent replacement for the role. “Starbreeze has a strong history of developing and publishing games globally. After launching Payday 3, the company is well-positioned to leverage the strengths of the organization to monetize and develop the IP portfolio. I am looking forward to assuming an operative position and, together with the management, ensure the execution of this strategy,” said Goeldner.

While we appreciated the foundation in Payday 3 when it launched last year, our review cited significant server issues and the always-online requirement as some extreme drawbacks. We’ll continue to follow Payday 3 as Starbreeze looks to fulfill its vision for the co-op heist game.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_