Payday 2 is doing well for Starbreeze Studios despite bad financial results for the company otherwise. The Swedish developer and publisher behind games such as The Darkness and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, didn't have a good 2019, to say the least. The company has released its end of year earnings report, and after filing for reconstruction to avoid bankruptcy in December 2018--which resulted in selling off studios and IP, and laying off 25% of its employees--the numbers don't make for pretty reading.
Starbreeze's loss before tax in 2019 was 452.4 million SEK (which amounts to $46.9 million). Considering it didn't release any new games throughout the year because it was reorganising to remain solvent, a significant loss isn't too surprising. Despite this, however, net sales increased by 20% to 280 million SEK ($29.8 million), of which Payday 2 accounted for 109.4 million SEK ($11.3 million).
This was fueled, in part, by the release of new content for Payday 2 in October after the game went back into active development. Starbreeze CEO Mikael Nermark says the DLC "generated higher than expected sales and player numbers" for Payday 2. This led to a peak of 56,582 concurrent players in the final quarter of the year, significantly increasing the number of players in the months prior according to Steam Charts.
"This is a good sign that confirms the interest in a future release of Payday 3 and lays a stable foundation for continued efforts," Nermark continued. "Starbreeze will release additional updates to Payday 2 in 2020. As of 3 January, sales will gain further momentum through the increase in Starbreeze's share of sales via Steam from 70 to 75%."
The company is currently looking for a publishing partner for the sequel. "We are engaged in ongoing discussions of a publishing agreement for Payday 3 and intend to present one before the end of the first half of 2020. Payday is the company's most important brand and we are seeking a good partner that can provide financial stability and possesses the marketing and distribution resources required to power the best possible launch and further development of the product."
