Starbreeze Studios CEO Out Less Than Six Months After Payday 3 Launch
Written by Wesley LeBlanc
Starbreeze Studios CEO Tobias Sjögren is no longer with the studio and the Payday 3 developer is now recruiting for a new leader. This news comes from a recent notice to investors that explains board member Juergen Goeldner is taking over as interim CEO in the meantime, as reported by GameDeveloper.
While Starbreeze's messaging around Sjögren's leave isn't super clear – the team simply says it is bidding farewell to the former CEO – today's news arrives after Payday 3 failed to meet expectations, according to GameDeveloper.
"On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank Tobias Sjögren for his achievements during the past three years," board chairman Torgny Hellström writes in the notice to investors. "Tobias took over the helm of Starbreeze in a challenging phase of its journey and we wish him well in his future endeavors."
Goeldner, the new interim CEO, adds, "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."
Goeldner has 40 years of experience in the games industry, including several executive positions, according to the notice. His last executive position was as CEO of Focus Home Interactive. He has been a member of Starbreeze's board of directors since last year. Starbreeze has initiated a recruitment process for a permanent CEO.
Payday 3 hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on September 21. We enjoyed the game around launch, giving it an 8 out of 10 in the Game Informer Payday 3 review. More than 3 million people played Payday 3 in its first month, but the game still failed to meet the expectations of the studio.
[Source: GameDeveloper]
Are you still playing Payday 3? Let us know in the comments below!
Yesterday’s Capcom Highlights Day 2 presentation gave us our first look at Akuma before he joins Street Fighter 6 sometime this spring. The master of the Satsui no Hado serves as the game’s final Year 1 DLC fighter.
A cinematic trailer shows off the now white-haired Akuma’s new look and his apparent mastery of the art of punching giant statues to rubble. We’ll have to wait to see gameplay, but this teaser certainly sets the mood for the brooding warrior.
Akuma joins previous Year 1 characters Rashid, A.K.I., and Ed, and Capcom plans to detail Year 2 content later this year. In the meantime, be sure to check out our Street Fighter 6 review.
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Terminid Bug Spawn Rates Nerfed On Harder Difficulties In New Helldivers 2 Patch
Written by Wesley LeBlanc
Developer Arrowhead Game Studios is releasing a new patch for Helldivers 2 today that nerfs the spawn rate of heavily armored Terminid bug enemies like Chargers and Bile Titans alongside some other changes that should make fighting these enemies, especially on harder difficulties, easier. Set to go live today on PlayStation 5 and PC, Patch 1.000.102 follows a patch from last week that introduced fire tornadoes, meteor showers, weapon buffs, and more to the shooter.
"Good day citizens of Super Earth," the patch notes read. "A new patch to aid you in your efforts is coming in. May Super Earth give you courage. Today's patch is dealing with the spawn rate of heavily armored Terminid enemies as well as the possible play against them. It also contains some fixes to U.I. elements and crash fixes."
In terms of Terminid nerfs and fixes, Arrowhead says the spawn rate of heavily armored targets on higher difficulties has been a "big discussion point online and internally." The studio says the intent of the challenge was for groups to have to bring some form of anti-tank capability, but admits not to the degree now needed.
"To that end, we have reduced the spawn rate of Chargers and Bile Titans on difficulties 7 and up," the team says in the patch notes. "In addition, we have reduced the risk of spawn spikes of Chargers and Bile Titans."
It's important to note that today's patch does not affect the difficulty of these Terminid bugs – just the spawn rate. Arrowhead says to expect other enemy types to appear in greater numbers instead. However, the patch notes say Arrowhead is lowering the health of the Charger's head, making it easier to target that weak point with something like a Recoilless Rifle or EAT-17, which will instantly kill a charger.
Elsewhere in the patch, the Electronic Countermeasures stratagem has been confirmed as removed – it was actually removed in a past last week but patch notes didn't mention it – so it can be reworked. Here are some other fixes in today's balance update:
- Fixed missing text on several HUD / UI elements.
- Fixed several subtitle / VO mismatches in the news videos.
- Fixed various crashes that occurred mid-gameplay and when deploying to missions.
For more information on things like known issues within the game, head to the full patch notes here. After that, catch up on all the changes introduced to Helldivers 2 in last week's patch, and then read up on the latest Warbond coming to the game. Be sure to read Game Informer's Helldivers 2 review, too, to find out why we love the game so much.
Are you happy with the changes coming in today's Helldivers 2 patch? Let us know in the comments below!