Payday CEO Is Gone After Game’s Bad Start And Low Player Numbers
Starbreeze’s CEO, Tobias Sjogren, is no longer with the company following the troubled launch of Payday 3 and its ongoing issues attracting and retaining players.
Starbreeze said in a news release that the company has assigned board member Juergen Goeldner to become interim CEO immediately as the company seeks a permanent CEO to replace Sjogren. Goeldner has been in the video game industry for 40 years and was previously the CEO of Focus Home. He has been on Starbreeze’s board since 2023.
Chairman of the board, Torgny Hellstrom, said Starbreeze now has a “clear strategy” focused on its own franchises and its licensed games. The board decided to replace Sjogren as CEO after conducting a “consolidated assessment” to reach its ambitions, the company said.
Sjogren is staying on with Starbreeze for the time being to ensure a “smooth transition,” the company said. Hellstrom thanked Sjogren “for his achievements during the past three years.”
“Tobias took over the helm of Starbreeze in a challenging phase of its journey and we wish him well in his future endeavors,” Hellstrom said.
The drastic move to replace Sjogren comes about six months after Payday 3 released in September 2023. The game suffered serious server issues at launch, and since then, the game’s playerbase has dwindled.
Mat Piscatella from Circana said Payday 3 did not rank in the top 350 titles in the US on Steam for monthly active users in February. According to SteamDB, the game had a peak concurrent playerbase of 378 people in the past 24 hours on Steam. For comparison, Payday 2 had a peak concurrent figure of nearly 32,000 in the past 24 hours.
Beyond PC, Payday 3 is available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Xbox owners can get it at no extra cost with a Game Pass membership.
In 2021, Starbreeze announced a €50 million deal with Koch Media that meant the game was fully funded prior to its release. The game recouped its development costs in nine days, but the low player numbers cannot be good news for the game and the company, which has historically relied heavily on the Payday series to carry its bottom line.
GameSpot’s Payday 3 review scored the game a 6/10. Reviewer Alessandro Barbosa wrote, “Payday 3 features rich new challenges and satisfying stealth objectives to keep you entertained for some time.”
Beyond Payday, Starbreeze is making a Dungeons & Dragons multiplayer co-op game that’s set to release in 2026.
WoW Dungeons Are Getting A Difficulty Overhaul, And It’s More Than A Little Confusing
World of Warcraft is dramatically overhauling its dungeon difficulties moving forward, and while the changes feel long overdue, they’re more than a little confusing.
Blizzard outlined all the dungeon difficulty updates in a new blog post. Come Dragonflight Season 4 and the game’s upcoming The War Within expansion, Heroic, Mythic 0, and Mythic+ keystone dungeons will all have their difficulties tweaked significantly. The changes came as a result of player feedback in regards to the lack of relevancy for Heroic and Mythic 0 dungeons, as well as a dislike of having timers associated with lower level Mythic+ dungeons, Blizzard said.
Now Playing: World of Warcraft – The War Within Expansion Features Overview Trailer
Specifically, Heroic dungeons will be scaled up to what is currently Mythic 0 difficulty. Conversely, Mythic 0 will become the equivalent of a current Mythic 10 keystone dungeon, albeit without a timer attached to it or seasonal affixes. What is currently a Mythic 15 keystone dungeon will in the future be a Mythic 5, and affixes will begin to kick in at Mythic 2 difficulty. All the rewards and Mythic+ rating associated with completing these dungeons will be overhauled to compensate for their higher difficulty.
Blizzard states its goal is to “recalibrate core difficulties to align with seasonal player experience and progression” and to “serve the community who enjoys dungeon content but feels that Mythic+ content isn’t for them due to the pressures of taking part.” The changes, Blizzard said, will help players do dungeons at their own pace, while improving on what can at times be a toxic Mythic+ environment by removing the requirement to go as fast as possible at lower keystone levels. Below is a chart Blizzard released to help visualize the changes.
It’s a lot to take in, especially since the difficulty of the Mythic+ dungeon system has largely been left unchanged since it was first introduced back in 2016’s Legion expansion. But confusing as they are, the changes do seem welcome. For years, Heroic difficulty dungeons have only felt relevant for the first week or so of an expansion’s launch and have little that distinguish them from the game’s Normal dungeon difficulty (which aren’t being adjusted as part of these changes). Subsequently, current Mythic 0 dungeons are relevant for only a week or two longer than Heroics, as players quickly move on to do Mythic+ keystones.
All of the dungeon difficulty changes will come when Dragonflight Season 4 arrives sometime this spring alongside remixed versions of Dragonflight’s previous raid tiers. A few months later, the game’s next expansion, The War Within, will release and kick off the first part of a three-expansion storyline Blizzard has dubbed The Worldsoul Saga.
It seems Blizzard is keen on taking a deeper look at the game’s group content and endgame activities. The War Within will add a new activity, Delves, which can be played solo or in small groups and will allow more casual players to earn endgame rewards. Earlier this year, Blizzard introduced the ability to do Dragonflight’s Normal difficulty dungeons with NPC followers, letting players learn dungeons or new class roles in a more casual setting without the added pressure of other players.
How To Stream Or Buy All The 2024 Oscar Winners
If Sunday’s Academy Awards have you looking to catch up on last year’s best movies, you’re in luck. All ten Best Picture nominees and numerous winners in other categories like Best Documentary are available to stream, buy, or rent online. Of course, they’re not all available on every platform–some are exclusive to services like Netflix or Prime Video, while others are only available to rent through stores like iTunes.
To help make watching all the 2024 Oscar-winning films easier, we’ve rounded up a list of all the winners and notable nominees, along with links to watch or buy. If you’ve already watched some of the Oscar winners and nominees, you may be interested in reading the books that inspired five of the Best Picture nominees.
Where to watch Best Picture winner – Oppenheimer
If you’re only going to watch one film featured in this year’s Oscars, it should probably be Oppenheimer. Not only did the film win the coveted Best Picture title, it was also nominated in 12 other categories, of which it won Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Director (Christopher Nolan), Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing. In other words, Oppenheimer had a huge night. Luckily, it’s easily available to stream on Prime Video and Peacock, or you can grab the 4K Blu-ray edition at a discount from Amazon. You can also rent the digital version from multiple online storefronts.
Where to watch the Best Picture nominees
While Oppenheimer might have won big at the 96th Academy Awards, the remaining nine Best Picture nominees are also worth checking out. Each film was nominated in numerous other categories, and several even took home awards, notably The Zone of Interest (Best International Film), Poor Things (Best Actress, Emma Stone), The Holdovers (Best Supporting Actress, Da’Vine Joy Randolph), American Fiction (Best Adapted Screenplay), Anatomy of a Fall (Best Original Screenplay), and Barbie (Best Original Song). The rest of the nominees include Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, and Past Lives.
All Best Picture nominees are available to buy, rent, or stream at the links below.
- American Fiction (Winner: Best Adapted Screenplay)
- Anatomy of a Fall (Winner: Best Original Screenplay)
- Barbie (Winner: Best Original Song)
- The Holdovers (Winner: Best Supporting Actress – Da’Vine Joy Randolph)
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Maestro
- Past Lives
- Poor Things (Winner: Best Actress – Emma Stone)
- The Zone of Interest (Winner: Best International Feature Film)
Where to watch other winners
If you want to check out the other Oscar winners beyond the Best Picture nominees, several other winners are also available for streaming, including the Best Documentary and Best Short Film. The only major winners that aren’t available yet are The Boy and the Heron (Best Animated Feature Film), War is Over! (Best Animated Short Film) and Godzilla Minus One (Best Visual Effects).
- 20 Days in Mariupol (Winner: Best Documentary Feature Film)
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Winner: Best Live Action Short Film)
- The Last Repair Shop (Winner: Best Documentary Short Film)
The Batman 2 Delayed To 2026
The Batman 2 has been delayed by a year. The Robert Pattinson-led sequel is now slated for release on October 2, 2026. The movie was originally pegged for October 2025.
Warner Bros. announced the shift on Tuesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter, but did not offer an explanation for the push.
The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, premiered in March 2022 and earned more than $770 million worldwide. In addition to Pattinson as Batman, the movie starred Paul Dano as The Riddler and Colin Farrell as Penguin. Zoe Kravitz played Catwoman, Andy Serkis suited up as Alfred, and Jeffrey Wright portrayed Commissioner Gordon. Barry Keoghan played Joker at the end of the film, presumably teeing up a bigger role in the sequel (though this is unconfirmed at this stage).
While fans are going to have to wait a while longer for The Batman 2, the spin-off series The Penguin with Farrell back in the role, debuts later this year on Max. Additionally, Joker 2 with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga is set for release in theaters this October.
GameSpot’s The Batman review scored it a 6/10. Reviewer Mason Downey wrote, “This is a Gotham that is both familiar and new, grounded and somehow completely bizarre. If The Batman has one major masterstroke that should be replicated in future live-action adaptations, this is it.”
GTA Online Cluckin’ Bell Farm Raid – All Weapon And Gear Loadouts
During the “Concealed Weapons” mission in the GTA Online Cluckin’ Bell Farm Raid, you have the option to select between three different locations. At these locations, you can steal different loadouts of weapons and gear for your upcoming heist at the cartel factory.
While you can choose to visit all three locations separately and see which loadout is right for you, we have listed all the weapons and gear you can find at each location so you can go straight to the one you want. Check out the guide below to see all of your available loadout options.
All loadout options in Concealed Weapons
The three locations you can visit are Point A (Marabunta Grande), Point B (Yacht), and Point C (Military Airport). The weapons and gear you can steal increase in strength and value depending on where you go. At Point A, you’ll find a low-level gang with basic weapons and armor while Point C features military-grade weaponry and armor.
If you go to a more advanced loadout location, you’ll also encounter higher-level enemies, so keep that in mind if you’re playing the raid as a solo player. Below, you can see what weapons and gear you can find at the three different locations:
Point A (Marabunta Grande)
- Weapons: Compact Rifle, Combat Pistol, Mini SMG, Crowbar, Molotovs
- Gear: Light Armor
Point B (Yacht)
- Weapons: Heavy Rifle, Heavy Shotgun, Tactical SMG, Pipe Bombs
- Gear: Medium Armor
Point C (Military Airport)
- Weapons: MG, AP Pistol, Combat Shotgun, Grenades
- Gear: Heavy Armor
What loadout should you choose?
Ideally, you want to steal the loadout from Point C at the Military Airport. It has the best armor and three extremely useful weapons, including a light machine gun and a combat shotgun. However, if you’re a solo player, getting to the weapons and gear can be difficult with how many armored enemies are around the location. You’ll need solid weapons before arriving if you want to survive the encounter.
If you do choose Point C, you can find the weapons inside the large hangar, while the gear is located on the tarmac near a plane. If you drive straight to each location and quickly grab the weapons and gear, you should be able to escape relatively unharmed.
For those of you who decided to visit multiple locations and gather different loadouts, it’s important to remember you can’t mix and match weapons from the loadouts. You can only use the defined weapons in a loadout for the heist. However, it is possible to use a location’s gear with a different loadout. So, for example, you can use Point B’s weapons with Point C’s gear, if you have both of them available.
After you complete the Concealed Weapons mission in the Cluckin’ Bell Farm Raid, you still have a few missions left. You can check out our full walkthrough of the raid to complete it with ease.
Star Trek 3 40th Anniversary Edition Comes With Exclusive Collectibles At Walmart
If you’ve been looking to fill a Spock-shaped hole in your Star Trek movie collection, you can now set a course for Walmart and grab a fancy 40th anniversary edition of Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock ahead of its May 28 release.
This 4K restoration of the classic Star Trek film is available in steelbook format at multiple retailers, but Walmart has an exclusive edition that comes with a poster of the film’s key art and a booklet. Not only are you getting a pair of bonus collectibles, you’re saving some cash, too. Walmart is selling the new 40th anniversary edition for $25, while Amazon has the steelbook edition, sans poster and booklet, for $31.
Special features haven’t been revealed yet, but this version will probably inherit the extras from the previous Blu-ray release, like commentary tracks from the cast and crew, production documentaries, a photo gallery, trailers, and a look at the storyboards that helped shape the movie. You’ll get 4K Blu-ray and standard Blu-ray discs as well as a digital copy of the film.
If you’ve never seen it, Star Trek 3 takes place shortly after the previous film, The Wrath of Khan, and deals with the aftermath of Spock’s heroic self-sacrifice to save his crew. Laid to rest on the Genesis Planet, a world being used to test out the terraforming abilities of advanced technology, the Enterprise crew sets off on a quest to recover Spock’s rejuvenated body and reunite with him with his psychic essence after it took up residence inside of Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy. It’s weird, but a fun movie! Rogue Klingon warlord Kruge also enters the fray, aiming to steal the Genesis technology for himself.
The other Star Trek films from the classic series are also available on 4K Blu-ray, so if you’re looking for a binge of old-school sci-fi, these make for a great option. Paramount has done an excellent job at enhancing these 4K releases with a wealth of extras like behind-the-scenes documentaries and insightful commentaries from the various film directors, producers, and actors.
More Star Trek 4K Blu-rays
Another cinematic gem to keep an eye out for is The Crow, as the new 30th-anniversary 4K restoration of the film is shaping up to be the definitive version of that beloved movie.
Get 25 Cyberpunk Novels For Only $15 For A Limited Time
Fanatical might be best known for its rotating selection of budget-friendly PC game bundles, but the site also sells other digital goods, including bundles of cheap ebooks. That’s especially true right now, you can pick up 25 ebooks for just $15 with the new Cyberpunk Stories Build Your Own Bundle. There’s also the option to snag five ebooks for $5 or 10 ebooks for $8 if you want to save a bit of cash.
The Cyberpunk Stories Bundle lets you choose from a selection of 25 ebooks, including Windswept by Adam Rakunas (a featured finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award), The Phlebotomist by Chris Panatier (which tells the story of a world segregated by blood type), and Inertia by Mark Everglade (which follows a geophysicist trying to solve an environmental crisis).
All stories in the catalog fall into the dystopian cyberpunk sub-genre, and once they’re purchased, you’ll be granted lifetime ownership of DRM-free files. The ebooks are also delivered to your account instantly, and multiple file formats, including EPUB and PDF, are available for many of the books. You’ll be able to easily add all of these books to any of your devices that have reading apps. As a bonus, you’ll get a 5% off voucher for your next purchase at Fanatical.
Here’s a look at all 25 books in the collection. For more details on each, be sure to check out their official store page.
Cyberpunk Stories Build Your Own Bundle
Choose five books for $5, ten books for $8, or 25 books for $15.
- Moths
- HellSans
- Twenty-Five to Life
- The Uploaded
- The Phlebotomist
- World Running Down
- Windswept
- Thrill Switch
- Implanted
- Glow
- Myriad
- Tower Defender
- Heart of Veridon
- Composite Creatures
- The Immorality Clause
- Hamlet, Prince of Robots
- The Subjugate
- Three: Legends of the Duskwalker, Book 1
- Agent G: Infilitrator
- Outpost
- Eclipse (A Song Called Youth #1)
- Black Glass: The Lost Cyberpunk Novel
- Coil
- The Paradise Factory: A New York 2055 Cyberpunk Story
- Inertia
Disclosure: GameSpot and Fanatical are both owned by Fandom.
We Could Be Getting Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Queen’s Blood Expansions
Square Enix is open to expanding Queen’s Blood, the in-game card game in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. The minigame has been incredibly popular and well-received.
“There are 145 cards in total. We haven’t decided anything in terms of future development for Queen’s Blood,” said director Naoki Hamaguchi in an interview with Red Bull. “But so far, the media who played it have provided very positive feedback on it, so we want to consider further expansions as a possibility.”
Now Playing: From Fan to Creator – FF7 Rebirth Director Naoki Hamaguchi Interview
Hamaguchi explained that while there aren’t any current plans to expand Queen’s Blood, there’s still the possibility that new cards could be added. Hamaguchi also said that Queen’s Blood was inspired by other card games like Marvel Snap as well as non-card games like Splatoon. During the development phase, Square Enix created paper prototypes and simple apps to test out gameplay mechanics. The developers even used a 3D printer to create a physical real-life Queen’s Blood Board.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is now available for PS5. In GameSpot’s Final Fantasy VII Rebirth review, we said, “Thankfully, what Final Fantasy Rebirth succeeds at eclipses what it fumbles. It’s a superbly designed gameplay experience that instills a sense of freedom while also making exploration rewarding in a meaningful way.”
