Solid EBITDA, and Cash Flow that continues to grow together with increased player base.
Third quarter 2026
The period January-September 2026
Significant events during and after the quarter
CEO’s message
The third quarter of 2026 was defined by the biggest and boldest release in PAYDAY 3's history as well as stable game sales and positive EBITDA. Three years after launch, we put the most complete version of the game ever in our players' hands: every previously released heist is now part of the base game, the campaign has been rebuilt, and content now arrives through paid Crimebonds on a regular rhythm. The moment the 3rd Anniversary Year Update went live, PAYDAY 3's player base jumped three times over, and recent reviews on Steam have held Mostly Positive since the summer. Together with PAYDAY 2, which continues to perform at its strongest level in years, both games now carry large, active player bases of their own. That is the foundation we have worked a full year to build, and it is from here that we grow.
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
Net sales for the third quarter amounted to 32.6M SEK, compared to 58.4M SEK the same period last year. Game sales were broadly stable at 31.1M SEK (32.5), and the decline against the comparison period is explained by the exit from third-party publishing and the completion of our work-for-hire engagements, which together contributed 24.6M SEK a year ago compared to 1.0M SEK in this quarter, as we keep our full focus on the PAYDAY franchise. PAYDAY 2 contributed 16.6M SEK and PAYDAY 3 contributed 14.5M SEK.
PAYDAY 3 revenue in the quarter should be read in light of a deliberate decision: in August we delisted all paid heist DLC from every storefront ahead of folding the heists into the base game. This reduced DLC revenue in the quarter by design, in exchange for a unified player base, a much stronger entry point for new players, and a recurring, stacking monetized content model through Crimebonds, where the first Crimebond, Brute Force, launched on September 22 and therefore contributed only nine days of sales in the period.
EBITDA amounted to 17.3M SEK (19.3), corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 53 percent (33), and operating cash flow was positive at 16.5M SEK (21.8). This is the result of a focused business with a cost base sized for what we do: the cost reductions implemented earlier in the year are now slowly coming into effect, with 89 employees at the end of the quarter compared to 160 a year ago. Investments in our own games amounted to 28.6M SEK (36.2), reflecting the work on the 3rd Anniversary Year Update, the Unreal Engine 5 upgrade as well as new content.
We will continue to manage our cost base with discipline to protect cash generation, and growing incremental revenue across the PAYDAY franchise remains management's key lever for returning to sustained profitability.
THE PAYDAY FRANCHISE
On PAYDAY 3, we delivered on our promise of a substantive update every month, and the quarter built towards one goal. In July we continued the rework of existing heists with improved objectives, lighting and a range of quality-of-life improvements. In August, Update 3.8 moved PAYDAY 3 from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5, the biggest piece of technical work on the game since launch. It upgrades the foundation the game is built on, reduces the install size by roughly a third, and broadens the scope of what we can do going forward.
On September 22 we released the 3rd Anniversary Year Update, the single largest release in PAYDAY 3's history. All previously separate paid heist DLC is now included in the base game at no additional cost and with no change to the base price, so every player owns the same game and no lobby is split by who owns what. The update also introduced a Campaign Mode with a completely rewritten storyline, Weapon Perks, Overkill weapon customization, a Shooting Range, reworked enemy behavior, and the first paid Crimebond, Brute Force. Crimebonds are evergreen: nothing is retired, and the library players can dip into only grows. This is the content model we will carry forward, with a new Crimebond, new heists and Heist Challenges on a regular cadence.
The response from players was immediate. Our player base tripled when the update went live, and PAYDAY 3's recent reviews on Steam have stayed above 72 percent positive since reaching Mostly Positive in July. After three years, PAYDAY 3 is a bigger, better and more complete game than it has ever been, and that is the result of a studio that has not stopped for a year.
PAYDAY 2 continues to perform very well through our partnership with Sidetrack Games. The Diesel 3.0 engine upgrade, which moves the game to 64-bit, reduces the install size by more than 60 percent and significantly improves stability. Combined with a strong summer sale, player activity in PAYDAY 2 reached its highest level in over two years in July, and the game remains a strong and steady contributor to both revenue and the wider franchise. Sidetrack also launched its first paid DLC “Under the Hammer” which was the first new Heist in over three years.
STRATEGY & PLATFORM EXPANSION
Our strategy is to make PAYDAY a platform that reaches players wherever they are, together with carefully selected partners. On August 10 we successfully launched Heist Escape Roguelike: PAYDAY Experience, a native Unreal Editor for Fortnite game developed and published together with the Stockholm-based creative team OceanWave Games. It reimagines PAYDAY as a roguelike heist shooter with persistent progression inside one of the world's largest gaming ecosystems, and it reflects our creator-first approach to bringing the IP to new audiences. Across PC, console and user-generated content platforms such as Roblox and Fortnite, PAYDAY has now engaged more than 550 million players and we continue to release content on these platforms going forward to further grow our player base.
The same day, we announced together with VICE Studios that Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and G-Unit Film & Television will executive produce an adaptation of PAYDAY for global audiences. G-Unit has built cinematic crime stories that connect with audiences around the world, and this partnership is a central piece of our ambition to grow PAYDAY into a heist universe across all forms of entertainment.
Our licensing partnerships also move closer to market. PAYDAY: Aces High, the officially licensed VR co-op heist game developed by Fast Travel Games, was successfully is confirmed for released on November 5 on Meta Quest, SteamVR and Steam Frame. Our second Roblox experience with Gamefam is set to launch later this year and our second Fortnite experience with OceanWave Games will launch in the fourth quarter, further extending the franchise's reach to new audiences.
CLOSING REMARKS
The third quarter of 2026 was about completing a year of execution on PAYDAY 3 and resetting how we deliver content to our players. We now have two games with large, active communities, a unified PAYDAY 3 player base, a recurring content model, and a franchise that is expanding into Fortnite, Roblox, VR and bringing PAYDAY to the small screen. We also know that momentum in players and sentiment has to translate into revenue and cash flow, and that is where our focus lies in the fourth quarter, and beyond.
The new model is already running: the October update introduced the Guns Blazin' Crimebond and the new Feeding Frenzy heist, with further updates planned for November and December, and PAYDAY: Aces High launches in November. There is plenty of work ahead of us, but the direction is clear, the game and community has never been stronger.
I want to thank our Starbreeze team for a year of relentless work, our players for staying with us and telling us what they want, and our shareholders for their continued trust in our journey. It is through your combined support that we continue to build PAYDAY into the entertainment platform it deserves to be.
ADOLF KRISTJANSSON, CEO