Swedish publisher and developer Starbreeze AB has announced today that it has filed for reconstruction in a bid to avoid bankruptcy, amid poor sales of Overkill’s The Walking Dead. Additionally, CEO Bo Andersson has agreed to step down.
The reconstruction will affect all of Starbreeze AB’s subsidiaries, including Starbreeze Publishing, Starbreeze Production, Starbreeze Studios, Enterspace and Enterspace International.
The company said in an official statement that: “The decision is based on a shortage of liquidity and deemed to be a necessary step to give the Company the time needed to negotiate a long-term financial solution and implement changes in the organization and operations. The financial targets for Q4 2018 and 2020 no longer applies.”
Management will be reviewing operations and initiating a programme to lower costs and focus on its core business. During this period staff will still be paid but no payments will be made to suppliers for services or goods.
Starbreeze attributes some of this to the poor reception Overkill’s The Walking Dead has received since it arrived last month, affecting forecasted sales and therefore reduced the short-term forecasted revenue.
The company is also well known for its virtual reality (VR) efforts, having created the rather by-the-numbers John Wick Chronicles experience as well as Payday 2 VR. And then there’s StarVR, the enterprise-focused head-mount display (HMD) made in conjunction with Acer. The headset recently went on sale for $3,200 USD, but looks not to be affected as Starbreeze and Acer spun the project out into its own company, StarVR Corporation.
With the departure of Bo Andersson he will be succeeded by Deputy CEO Mikael Nermark. “In this phase, Starbreeze needs a different kind of leadership and we have therefore decided to ask Mikael Nermark to take on the full responsibility with our full mandate for this new phase,” says Starbreeze Chairman Michael Hjorth in a statement.
As the reconstruction continues VRFocus will keep you abreast of the latest outcomes.
via Mint VR