Payday developer Starbreeze cancels D&D project, lays off staff

Starbreeze Entertainment, the developer behind the multiplayer heist game series Payday, has laid off dozens of staff and canceled its upcoming Dungeons & Dragons game, Project Baxter, in a “strategic shift” to focus on its flagship franchise. 

In a press statement on its corporate website, Starbreeze said that its licensed D&D game Project Baxter has been canceled following a “strategic review” which concluded that the company’s resources are better spent on the Payday franchise. The move will see 44 full-time employees and contractors that were working on the new game laid off, which the company says will enable it to become cash-flow positive in 2026. 

“We are doubling down on what our players love – and what we do best – owning the heisting genre,” Starbreeze CEO Adolf Kristjansson said. “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.”

According to a now-deleted page for the game, Project Baxter would have been an officially licensed Dungeons & Dragons game, featuring co-operative multiplayer and a games as a service model, much like Payday. The game was said to be using Unreal Engine 5, and was expected to launch in 2026 on all major platforms. 

It comes during a difficult period for the games industry, which has seen wave after wave of layoffs in recent years. Just earlier this week, it was reported that Avalanche Studios would be seeing mass layoffs following the cancellation of Xbox exclusive Contraband earlier this year. The studio’s entire Liverpool office was announced to be closing down, with additional layoffs in offices in Malmo and Stockholm.