Starbreeze has appointed Jonas Skantz as general manager of its Payday franchise.
The studio said Skantz, who has just joined the company, would be responsible for “steering the franchise’s creative and commercial direction.” His role encompasses the long-term creative strategy, “fostering collaboration between development and publishing”, and “ensuring that Payday continues to deliver world-class co-op heist experiences to its global player base.”
Skantz brings 20 years of games dev and leadership experience having previously worked on big ticket franchises like Battlefield, FIFA, Star Wars, and Need for Speed. He’s also credited as playing “a pivotal role” in the roll out of EA’s proprietary engine, Frostbite, “from a single-studio tool to an EA-wide initiative.”
“Jonas brings both strategic vision and hands-on leadership to the Payday franchise, said CEO Adolf Kristjansson. “His understanding of games, players, and brand growth makes him an ideal fit to guide Payday into its next chapter. We’re thrilled to have him on board and confident that his leadership will help us deliver even greater experiences to our community.”
Kristjansson was appointed as Starbreeze’s new CEO back in March after CFO Mats Juhl briefly stepped up as interim CEO, replacing existing CEO Juergen Goeldner, who stepped down to take on the role of chairman of the board.