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Starbreeze is probably about to go bankrupt

Slim

Slim

Banned
Sep 24, 2018
2,846
Either restructuring (which looks unlikely), or straight up bankruptcy chapter 7.
 

SpookySkeleton

Member
Oct 28, 2017
862
ILikeFeet said:
The Darkness is a comic book series by Top Cow/Image. Same universe as Witchblade. MS isn't gonna buy something like that
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To add to that: A barely known comic book series that's been soft-rebooted multiple times due to lack of sales and whose original creator admitted some years ago he only did it for the money, with the IPs only real success being one game and the (completely unneeded considering the original's ending, really) sequel, which was made by another studio (the Warframe developer) bombing.
 

eddy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,742
Interim Report for Q1 2019, during reconstruction. https://www.starbreeze.com/2019/05/starbreeze-ab-publ-interim-report-q1-2019/

First quarter 2019
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  • Net sales amounted to SEK 47.8 million (110.1). Of the total, SEK 2.1 million (0.0) was generated by OVERKILL's The Walking Dead (OTWD) and SEK 26.7 million (25.1) by PAYDAY.
  • EBITDA amounted to SEK -106.7 million (48.8).
  • Depreciation, amortization and impairments totaled SEK 49.9 million (42.6).
  • Costs related to the reconstruction amounted to SEK 11.0 million for the quarter.
  • The loss before tax was SEK -167.3 million (-6.4).
  • Basic and diluted earnings per share were SEK -0.52 (-0.02).
  • The reconstruction of Starbreeze was extended through 3 June 2019 by order of the Stockholm District Court.
  • The extraordinary general meeting held 7 March 2019 elected Jan Benjaminson, Torgny Hellström and Kerstin Sundberg as new regular directors for a term ending at the close of the next annual general meeting. Torgny Hellström was elected chairman of the board.
  • The rights owner, Skybound, terminated the license agreement for the title Overkill's The Walking Dead. Starbreeze disputes the termination.
After the end of the period
  • Starbreeze and some of its subsidiaries have been in reconstruction since December 3, 2018. The company currently lacks sufficient secured funds to continue operating for the coming 12 months and a liquidity shortfall is expected before mid-year 2019 if no additional funds are provided.
  • Acer Inc. called for conversion of the outstanding convertible bond loan.
  • Starbreeze sold back the publishing rights to the game "10 Crowns" to Mohawk Games.
  • Shareholders were notified of the annual general meeting to be held 4 June 2019.
  • The company has decided to reclassify certain non-current liabilities to current liabilities as per 31 December 2018.

Acting CEO Mikael Nermark remarks on the report:


Focus on games
We decided in December 2018 to streamline operations and are now focused exclusively on the core business: game development and publishing of own and third-party games.

Sales in the first quarter amounted to SEK 47.8 million (110.1), of which PAYDAY 2 accounted for SEK 26.7 million (25.1). EBITDA amounted to SEK -106.7 million (48.8). The decrease in earnings is due primarily to lower net sales, higher administrative costs related to the reconstruction and the negative accounting effect of the sale of System Shock 3 amounting to SEK 68.1 million.

My main task is to secure financing for the company's future operations. This involves both long-term financing we can use to build the Starbreeze of the future, but also making sure that the assets we have determined are unrelated to the core business are managed in a commercially viable way. Once this financing has been secured, we will be able to look ahead and present a more detailed strategy for the future.

In order to clarify the company's business and value a restructuring of the company's assets and simplification of the legal structure is in progress as par of the reconstruction. All assets have been valued by an external party and the majority of core business assets were consolidated into two new legal entities. One includes employees and the other includes assets and the publishing business for titles developed by Starbreeze and third-party developers.

We are in a challenging situation. I stand united with the entire Starbreeze team in the efforts to get the business in order. We have a very strong asset in Payday, which is the foundation upon which we will build Starbreeze future.
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deadasdisco

deadasdisco

Member
Jun 10, 2018
548
If they can get Payday 3 funded they should be able to refresh as a company under new leadership and just maybe live on for another few years. They definitely have a second chance.
 
DarkDetective

DarkDetective

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,906
The Netherlands
Their cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 2019 are SEK 14.5 million, which is about $1.52 million. They have 580 employees.
It's just as they state at the beginning of the report:

"The company currently lacks sufficient secured funds to continue operating for the coming 12 months and a liquidity shortfall is expected before mid-year 2019 if no additional funds are provided."

They have a huge problem because their operating costs are too high (compared to their revenues, which are the problem obviously).
 
dunkzilla

dunkzilla

alt account
Banned
Dec 13, 2018
4,762
Starbreeze have nearly 600 employees? WTF? Why do they need that many, especially after most of their employees left and followed the owners to Machine Games?
 
Bashteee

Bashteee

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,193
The Walking Dead IP killed them. Crazy that Payday 2 is still making money. They should've put out at least another DLC for it.
DarkDetective said:
Their cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 2019 are SEK 14.5 million, which is about $1.52 million. They have 580 employees.
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Edit: assuming every employee earns 40.000$ on average (which would be pretty low), they would need over 20 million $ to operate for the next 12 months. If Payday 3 isn't nearly finished, they are fucked and we will know soon enough.
 
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Valkrai

Valkrai

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,495
I hope Starbreeze can make it and get another Payday out. Bo Anderson really fucked the company up.
 

OldMuffin

Member
Nov 1, 2017
1,179
Hopefully they can pull through. Payday 3 might be their last shot. I also hope that their old leadership that got them into this position ain't there anymore, cause it's make or break time for them.
 
Castamere

Castamere

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,517
BTW Payday 3 is likely to be ass no matter if they get funding or not. The reason the game is still played is because of the amazing foundation that David Goldfarb set in place. David Goldfarb also worked on Bad Company 2. Payday 2 was rough because of the budget, but it had a truly solid core for a budget game and satisfying gameplay. After TWD I have no faith that Overkill can do that again without him.
 
THRILLHO

THRILLHO

Member
Nov 6, 2017
1,093
Castamere said:
BTW Payday 3 is likely to be ass no matter if they get funding or not. The reason the game is still played is because of the amazing foundation that David Goldfarb set in place. David Goldfarb also worked on Bad Company 2. Payday 2 was rough because of the budget, but it had a truly solid core for a budget game and satisfying gameplay. After TWD I have no faith that Overkill can do that again without him.
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I was in beta Payday 2 through the first couple years, but haven't touched it since.

I have no expectation they can re-capture what made P2 special again for Payday 3.
 
BubblegumNemesis

BubblegumNemesis

Member
Feb 1, 2018
5,242
Europe
Cthulhu_Steev said:
Yeah, course it was. It was a shitty post in the first place, it didn't deserve a response.

Hoping a dev gets into insolvency just so Spencer can 'swoop' and get you fanboys another notch is pretty gross.
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Lol you are taking this way too seriously.

The swooping Phil meme is just the fact that MS is looking for studios and has ungodly amounts of money to save studios. Nothing to do with fanboys or schadenfreude at devs in a bad spot.
 

eddy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,742
Requesting more time to reconstruct Starbreeze.

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (May 29, 2019)– Starbreeze has today submitted a request to the Stockholm District Court for an extended reconstruction period.

Starbreeze announced December 3, 2018 that the Starbreeze AB (publ) and five subsidiaries had file for reconstruction, where The Stockholm District Court approved the application and assigned Lars Söderqvist from Wesslau Söderqvist Advokatbyrå I Stockholm as the appointed Administrator.

On the Creditors Meeting held December 21, 2018 the Stockholm District Court further approved the continued reconstruction up until March 3, 2019. At the proceedings, the largest external creditors additionally approved of the continued reconstruction. A Creditors' Committee was additionally appointed, consisting of Martin Wigforss representing Nordea Bank AB and Magdalena Berg, Baker & McKenzie Advokatbyrå, representing Smilegate.

The company has previously applied for an extension for the period March 3 – June 3, 2019.

Starbreeze has now submitted a request for each company reorganization to continue for an additional three-month period. The Administrator supports the request.

As previously announced, the reconstruction plan states that Starbreeze will focus on its core business of internal game development and publishing. The company has initiated a process to find collaborations with external parties to secure that the non-core operations develop in a positive way.
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Deleted member 48991

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 24, 2018
753
Starbreeze lays off a quarter of its staff
Starbreeze has announced it is making changes to its business in order to reduce costs -- but this will involve dismissing a quarter of its staff.

Of the 240 staff currently employed across the Starbreeze group, approximately 60 are expected to be effected with the layoffs to be complete by November.
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Sucks for the people getting the ax.
 
Com_Raven

Com_Raven

Brand Manager
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
1,103
Europa
I am very sorry to hear that, I hope they will find a new place to land soon with minimal disruption :(
 
Aktlys

Aktlys

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,535
Don't be sad for swedes losing their job, it is basically a 12 month vacation with the A-kassa that can be extended for another 12 months :D
 
Minamu

Minamu

Member
Nov 18, 2017
1,900
Sweden
marzoo said:
600 employess and they had to switch the engine for walking dead...sounds like an organized mess just like star citizen is
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This is highly inaccurate by today's situation. And switching engines was absolutely necessary, it's well-known the previous one was indeed a less than half-finished mess. It better supported the original game concept though, thus we have a very different end product.
 

Deleted member 44371

Banned
Jun 1, 2018
4,523
Minamu

Minamu

Member
Nov 18, 2017
1,900
Sweden
marzoo said:

you know switching engines killed them and wasnt neccesary...
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Yes it was? Your link provides plenty of dev quotes saying the old engine was trash and they wanted to switch a long time ago. Sure it hurt to switch to Unreal but it would've been even worse to stay in the old engine. Nobody is lamenting the change to Unreal these days, only that it happened too late.
 

eddy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,742
Reports are out that Universal Games wants to end their distribution deal with Starbreeze, which was signed only this February, as they're pulling out of the mobile game distribution business.

Press release for the original deal:

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (February 5, 2019)
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Starbreeze AB, an independent creator, publisher and distributor of games, today announced that its subsidiary, Starbreeze Production AB, has signed a binding term sheet for a five-year distribution deal with Universal Games and Digital Platforms for its mobile title PAYDAY: Crime War.

Under the agreement, Starbreeze will receive a 1.5 MUSD advance payment upon signing, and Universal Games and Digital Platforms will cover certain costs for continued development, marketing, live operations and user acquisition with respect to the game. Upon worldwide launch, if any, Universal Games and Digital Platforms will pay an additional instalment of an advance/guarantee and thereafter will recoup its costs, after which Starbreeze will retain a revenue share equivalent to PC and console publishing deals on sales of the game. Starbreeze retains all IP rights for the title.
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News flash (swedish) about unwinding the deal: https://www.avanza.se/placera/teleg...ersal-som-forlaggare-av-payday-crime-war.html

Via: (swedish) https://digital.di.se/artikel/aktien-rusade-nu-tappar-starbreeze-tunga-forlaggaren

Starbreeze B is down 20% in the open this morning on this news.
 
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DarkDetective

DarkDetective

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,906
The Netherlands
eddy said:
Reports are out that Universal Games wants to end their distribution deal with Starbreeze, which was signed only this February, as they're pulling out of the mobile game distribution business.

Press release for the original deal:



News flash (swedish) about unwinding the deal: https://www.avanza.se/placera/teleg...ersal-som-forlaggare-av-payday-crime-war.html

Via: (swedish) https://digital.di.se/artikel/aktien-rusade-nu-tappar-starbreeze-tunga-forlaggaren

Starbreeze B is down 20% in the open this morning on this news.
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Big shame that the one publisher they got a good deal with is now pulling out of games publishing entirely. The prospects of survival for Starbreeze have become so much better since last year, and this was the first big news since they went into restructuring. Hopefully, they can push through and find another partner.
 
Smash Kirby

Smash Kirby

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 7, 2017
4,069
DarkDetective said:
Big shame that the one publisher they got a good deal with is now pulling out of games publishing entirely. The prospects of survival for Starbreeze have become so much better since last year, and this was the first big news since they went into restructuring. Hopefully, they can push through and find another partner.
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Should MS or Sony acquire them at this point?
 
DarkDetective

DarkDetective

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,906
The Netherlands
Smash Kirby said:
Should MS or Sony acquire them at this point?
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Starbreeze is still a walking corpse. The company's real value currently is in its IP, which is basically only Payday. If I were a publisher like Microsoft or Sony (or THQ Nordic lol), I'd wait for a bankruptcy auction. It looks like Starbreeze will be saved from that fate, however. Payday is mostly a PC game, so MS/Sony don't really win anything by obtaining exclusivity of Payday 3 for their platforms. So I think things will stay as they are.
 
Lukar

Lukar

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
23,424
The cancellation of development on TWD still stings. Skybound fucking sucks for not allowing Starbreeze to even release the rest of the promised second season of content.
 
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