Disappointing Overkill's The Walking Dead Sales Prompts Starbreeze to Cut Costs

Starbreeze announced that sales for The Walking Dead were lower than expected and as a result is looking into cost-cutting measures that lets Starbreeze focus on its "core business."

The lower-than-expected sales figure for Overkill's The Walking Dead "will have a negative impact on fourth-quarter earnings," says Starbreeze CFO Sebastian Ahlskog. Starbreeze attributes the sales to a significantly higher share of sales in low-prices countries like China and Russia.

Additionally, the $10 million license fee from 505 Games to Starbreeze won't be recognized for Q4 2018, which contributes to the missed financial target for the quarter.

Starbreeze released The Walking Dead a few weeks ago and considers it one of its biggest releases since PayDay 2. However reception to the title has been mixed and player counts have been relatively low on PC compared to previous Starbreeze games.

"This is disappointing, of course, but we have a base to work with in regards to the number of games sold. We have a pulse on concurrent players, which is essential to future performance within the framework of our Games as a Service concept," says Starbreeze chairman Michal Hjorth.

Starbreeze also says that The Walking Dead is a games as service title and will be iterated upon post-launch with new content and characters.

In the meantime Starbreeze will commence with cutting down its business to become more focused on core projects. What form this takes remains to be seen.