Starbreeze Studios – a large Swedish company that is now going through difficult times. The reasons lie on the surface: after Payday 2 The publishing house, we can say, did not release a single hit, although it lowered the money left and right. Journalist Eurogamer talked with employees Starbreeze on the terms of anonymity and found out additional details. As it often happens, with “insiders” the story began to play with new colors.
Current Starbreeze – Not the same company that developed The Chronicles of Riddick And The Darkness. In 2012 "The same" Starbreeze was in a difficult position after an unsuccessful shooter Syndicate. Key employees left before the release of the game and founded Machinegames – You know her in the last two Wolfenstein. By the time I started Syndicate, from Starbreeze There was only a tiny team that ended the game.
U Starbreeze There was another project – Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, However, the studio was on the verge of bankruptcy. Fortunately, at the same moment I came across similar problems Overkill Software. It was founded by the brothers Ulf And Bo Anderssons (ULF Andersson, Bo andersson), as well as the composer Simon Viklund (Simon Viklund).
Overkill Born on the bones Grin – Previous studio Anderssonov, well -known software Ballistics, Bionic Commando 2009 and Wanted: Weapons of Fate. By 2012 Overkill I released the shooter Payday: The Heist, who was not a failure, but also really successful. To continue existence, Overkill Money was required.
Starbreeze And Overkill We decided to unite. A few months after the release Syndicate company Starbreeze announced that she acquired Overkill, but, as Eurogamer writes, it was really not true. Starbreeze I bought it Overkill With the help of their shares. In 2012, these shares cost almost nothing, so it took so many securities to buy that Overkill received the largest share in Starbreeze. That is, in reality it turned out that Overkill I took it Starbreeze, but not vice versa.
According to eyewitnesses, Overkill Not interested in labor resources Starbreeze. The plan was such: drag Starbreeze From the city of Uppsal to Stockholm, where it was based Overkill, And use the name Starbreeze To attract investors. In 2013, I came out Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons – She can be considered the last game of the "one" Starbreeze, tells Eurogamer. After that, the era began Overkill.
In 2013, it started Payday 2, which turned out to be incredibly successful. The cost of shares Starbreeze I took off, but conflicts began inside the company. According to Eurogamer, brothers Anderssons quarreled: Ulf was exhausted after development Payday 2 And I wanted to do something small, and the ambitions began to play. As a result, the Ulf went on vacation after the release Payday 2 And he did not return. Bus bought a share of his brother in the company Varvtre Ab (owned the largest stake in Starbreeze), and Ulf founded the studio 10 Chambers Interactive and develops a cooperative shooter with catchy name GTFO. As Eurogamer writes, the brothers still do not communicate.
In August 2014 Starbreeze announced the deal with Skybound Entertainment And presented the game Overkill’s The Walking Dead. Then it was assumed that the game would be released in 2016. After take -off Payday 2 The plans were Napoleonic: they say, Bo dreamed to make sure that Overkill’s The Walking Dead became an “endless universe” and always offered the player something new. Ideally Starbreeze I wanted to release a project, which by scope is comparable to Destiny: tens of millions of copies sold and ten -year life. As you probably know, everything went wrong.
One of the key problems is https://wintokenscasino.co.uk/games/ the engine. First Overkill’s The Walking Dead collected on Diesel Engine – technologies that were written in Grin For Ballistics 2001. On Diesel Engine worked Payday 2. But still Starbreeze Refused Samopala and in May 2015 acquired Valhalla engine for 73 million Swedish crowns (about $ 8 million). Then Starbreeze I hoped that Valhalla would become the basis for all the games of the company.
As the interlocutors of Eurogamer say, the technology was terrible. Roughly speaking, in Valhalla there was only a Render, unconnected to wide development needs. Up to the point that there was no "Open File" button in the tools! According to eyewitnesses, it seemed that Valhalla did not help developers, but interfere with them. The engine was visible to the prospects, but in terms of stability and convenience, it was ready only 50-60 %, one of the sources of Eurogamer assures. Valhalla was significantly lagging behind the production plan.
In April 2017, managers Starbreeze finally admitted that the transition to Valhalla was a bad idea and moved Overkill’s The Walking Dead On Unreal Engine 4. The engine is well -known, powerful and convenient, but it did not become salvation: the assets that were prepared for Valhalla did not fit for Unreal Engine 4. The developers lost about a year and a half of the work and threw the unknown amount of money into the wind – after all, it is necessary to consider not only the purchase of Valhalla, but also salaries and other related costs.
Moreover, in Starbreeze There were not enough people who are familiar with Unreal Engine 4. One of the interlocutors Eurogamer tells that with the engine Epic Only 10 % of the studio developers could work confidently. The remaining 90 % either relied on tips from experienced colleagues, or were looking for leaderships on the Web. Workers Starbreeze We studied Tutorias to figure out how to make a game in Unreal Engine 4.
Difficulties added serious problems with the leadership. According to Eurogamer, senior game designers often promoted new ideas for Overkill’s The Walking Dead Based on what they played for the next weekend: “And let’s do it like in The Division! No, like in Far Cry! No, like in Assassin’s Creed!"The producers did not have enough experience on large projects, so they went to" Mad Microenage "and tried to control too many issues. As a result, the producers became a “bottleneck”, which inhibits decision -making and, as a result, the production of the entire game.
Management Starbreeze even let dust in the eyes, swings about the reviews of the public. For Overkill’s The Walking Dead erected an expensive stand on E3 2018. The company said that the gamers really liked the game, but in fact both the press and ordinary consumers spoke about it as a mediocre. Eurogamer writes that one demosessia even had to be canceled: the audience simply did not want to play in Overkill’s The Walking Dead, Since the excerpt for the stand was very boring.
Finally, the team was finished off the treasures. According to Eurogamer, authors Overkill’s The Walking Dead processed throughout 2018. Some employees began psyche problems. Fortunately, Starbreeze provided private health services and paid 10 sessions from a psychiatrist. The company’s medical services are very good, the Eurogamer interlocutors say.
As developers say, that Overkill’s The Walking Dead, which entered Steam in November 2018, gathered in a year-one and a half. It feels like an alpha version, because the game really got away from the state of Alpha.
Overkill’s The Walking Dead was an important release for Starbreeze: The company’s management hoped that the circulation would make millions of copies. But sales on the release with difficulty overcame a hundred thousand, and ports for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One may not go out at all.
Before that Starbreeze made several large miscalculations. You already know about Valhalla, but the company also threw $ 8 million on a shooter into a shooter RAID: World War II. They were engaged in a studio Lion Game Lion, which helped with DLC for Payday 2. EUROGAMER sources assure the bosses Lion Game Lion – Old friends Bo Andersson.
Employees Starbreeze did not understand why the company spent so much money on RAID: World War II. The game looked like a competitor Payday 2 or even as an addition to her. The forebodings did not deceive ordinary hard workers: RAID: World War II turned out to be a major financial failure.
Starbreeze Virtual reality. In June 2015, the company bought French Infiniteye for $ 2 million and received $ 9 million in the form of investments for VR from Acer. Then Starbreeze invested $ 10 million in the production of VR IGR for a thematic park in Dubai, spent 7.1 million euros per company Nozon (removes VR films), I bought an Indian company DHRUVA (engaged in outsourcing) and opened expensive offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Paris and not only.
In December 2018, General Director Bo Andersson Retired, and new managers Starbreeze began to get rid of unnecessary business areas. According to Eurogamer, the company’s debts are now about 400 million Croat (44 million US dollars). They come down to four loans: two gave the bank Nordea, Another – Smilegate Holdings (Starbreeze pledged to develop a cooperative shooter for her Crossfire), and the last – Acer, When the company was engaged in virtual reality.
Most likely, to cope with debts, Starbreeze will sell his property. Rumors were heard to Eurogamer that the company could buy ThQ Nordic, And the franchise Payday – Smilegate.
On your last day in Starbreeze Bo Andersson He sent a letter to employees. He hinted that he would continue to engage in the project Storm, whose idea has been borne for more than 10 years, since the time Grin. They say, Storm Looks like something like "Payday in space ”, although the“ visionary trailer ”, published in May 2017, draws a slightly different picture.
In a farewell letter Andersson mentioned that he put in Starbreeze All your soul. Over the past three years, he lost his savings, divorced his wife, lost guardianship of children, but stably paid salaries. Even in December 2018, when Starbreeze I approached bankruptcy, the company gave a guarantee that it would give money to all its 263 employees.
But Bo still does not pull the positive hero: in the letter he hinted that, they say, less and less workers are sincerely worried about their game and are ready to plow overtime. As the interlocutors of Eurogamer say, the message remained from the message that in this situation everyone was to blame except itself Andersson. Former boss Starbreeze called extremely charismatic and self -confident. The trouble is that loud words are often not supported.
Now at Starbreeze Publishing obligations remained: the company was going to distribute System Shock 3 And Psychonauts 2. Besides, Starbreeze cooks Payday 3 and must release a cooperative action on Crossfire. What will happen to these projects is still unknown.