On Monday, Starbreeze announced the appointment of Adolf Kristjansson as the new CEO, who will begin his position today, April 1st. Adolf will replace the current interim CEO, Mats Juhl, who will return to his role as CFO. The search for a permanent CEO has been ongoing for over a year, following the departure of former CEO Tobias Sjögren in March 2024. Since then, both Chairman of the Board Juergen Goeldner and CFO Mats Juhl have served as acting CEOs, with Juhl holding the role for nearly a year.

Kristjansson brings over 20 years of experience in the gaming industry, including 13 years at Electronic Arts, where he most recently served as Senior Director of Commercial Strategy. During his tenure at EA, he worked on globally recognized franchises such as FIFA, Battlefield, and Apex Legends.

The leadership change has been long anticipated. We believe Kristjansson’s appointment is a good fit for Starbreeze, given his extensive industry knowledge and experience with major game franchises. At this time, we do not anticipate any immediate changes to the company's strategic direction, and we expect Starbreeze to maintain its focus on expanding the PAYDAY franchise while steadily evolving into a multi-title studio.