Starbreeze's Q1 losses shrink 95% to $505,000

Starbreeze's recovery continues as the Payday developer reports a strong start to its financial year.

For the three months ended March 31, 2021, net sales reached SEK 27.9 million ($3.4 million),a 27% increase year-on-year.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose 33% to SEK 22.6 million ($2.7 million), while losses before tax shrank 95% from SEK 97.3 million ($11.7 million) to SEK 4.2 million ($505,367).

It's the lowest quarterly loss in several years, and the second time it has posted a quarterly loss of less than $1 million, having reported a loss of SEK 8.2 million ($985,817) in Q3 2020.

These results were driven by the ongoing success of Payday 2, which continues to receive new DLC updates.

Starbreeze was further bolstered by a few key events behind the scenes; namely, the signing of a €50 million publishing deal with Koch Media for Payday 3 and the appointment of Tobias Sjögren as the company's new CEO.

In his comments -- under the title "The road ahead is clear" -- Sjögren said Payday 3 is now fully funded, thanks to the publishing deal, and puts it on track for a planned 2023 launch.

"The co-publishing structure means that while we co-invest into the game, we also have a revenue share that will be great for Starbreeze over the game's lifetime," he wrote.

He later concluded: "Starbreeze has now put a strong foundation for further growth in place."

Starbreeze faced insolvency back in 2018, but after a period in reconstruction and the sale of several assets, the company managed to pay off most of its creditors by the end of 2020.