Things just went from bad to worse for Starbreeze Studios, as the video game company’s offices were raided this morning by Swedish Authorities. The main reason for all of this was that the company was under suspicion for insider trading, and was reported by the Swedish Financial Website Dagens Industri. For those who don’t know, insider trading is when someone with confidential information trades on the stock market exchange for their own advantage. Since all companies that are on the stock market must make all of their assets public, this makes the practice very illegal.
According to the report, officials from the Swedish Economic Crime Authority were seen carrying out computers from the building, more than likely with the intent to search them for information on the inside trader. In addition, the authorities also arrested someone at the Starbreeze Studios headquarters, but did not reveal the name of the person. This might be the last straw for the struggling studio, as earlier this week we reported that Starbreeze Studios filed for reconstruction, which is the alternative way to Bankruptcy.
On top of that, the CEO and Deputy CEO, Bo Andersson and Mikael Nermark, both stepped down from their positions on the same day. The company’s reasoning for this sudden move was the failure of their recent video game, Overkill’s The Walking Dead, which apparently sold much worse than we thought. The game was given a price cut with the hopes that it could still recoup the budget that the company used, but ultimately it was not meant to be.
Starbreeze Studios has produced some very popular games, one of which was the popular online multiplayer game, Payday 2, which was also produced by Overkill. They’ve also created the Chronicles of Riddick series, Escape from Butcher Bay and Assault on Dark Athena, as well as the beloved Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. It would be a very sad end to a well known video game company, but the way it looks right now, Starbreeze Studios is on its last leg.