Payday Developer Starbreeze Part Ways with Former CEO Tobias Sjögren

Starbreeze Entertainment, the developers behind the Payday series, have announced that they would part ways with Tobias Sjögren, their previous CEO.

In a notice for their investors, Starbreeze stated that they would part ways with Sjögren after three years and that Juergen Goeldner would be appointed as Interim CEO until the company recruits a new permanent CEO.

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The notice mentions that Juergen Goeldner has spent 40 years in the gaming industry and has had several executive positions, with his latest position being CEO of Focus Home Interactive.

“The company has a clear strategy centered around creating attractive games on our own and licensed IPs. The board’s consolidated assessment is that the execution of strategy needs a different leadership.” said Torgny Hellström, Chairman of Starbreeze.”Juergen Goeldner has been part of the board since 2023 and, with over 40 years of industry experience, is a strong interim solution.“

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Hellström then goes on to thank Sjögren for his achievements during the past three years, stating that the former CEO took the helm of Starbreeze at a challenging time for the company, and wishes him well in his future endeavors.

Goeldnar on the other hand, states that he is looking forward to assuming an operative position and ensuring the execution of the company’s strategy.

“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,” says Juergen Goeldner, interim CEO of Starbreeze. “I am looking forward to assuming an operative position and, together with the management, ensure the execution of this strategy.”

Payday 3, the latest entry of the series was released on September 2023 and has since been plagued with server issues and bugs, with the servers crashing for multiple days after its launch.

The game was received with mixed reception, but many generally preferred the predecessor, Payday 2, as shown by the concurrent player numbers of Payday 2 being significantly higher than those of Payday 3.