Starbreeze, the developer behind the Payday franchise, has quietly laid off around 15% of its workforce and is planning to shut down its French division. This division, which plays a crucial role in the company’s production pipeline, is primarily responsible for patches and DLCs in Starbreeze’s games.

According to an anonymous Starbreeze employee, the company informed staff last week that more than half of the French team will be dismissed by the end of March, with the remaining employees set to be let go by June. The official reason given for the layoffs is economic difficulties, but management has not disclosed further details to affected employees.

Screenshots from Starbreeze’s internal Slack channels reveal growing dissatisfaction among the French team, with one developer accusing the company of violating multiple French labor laws. Specifically, the French employees were excluded from an All-Hands meeting on March 13, which discussed the company’s future and organizational structure. This omission, according to the employee, violates several articles of France’s labor code.

Following this criticism, the developer’s Slack account was deactivated, despite them still being under contract. Starbreeze’s lack of transparency and its apparent push to consolidate operations in Sweden while shutting down foreign divisions has deepened the divide between management and employees.

As of mid-February, Starbreeze’s French branch had 23 employees, meaning most, if not all, will likely be let go by July. The company has yet to address these concerns publicly, and 80 Level has reached out to Starbreeze executives for comments.