Starbreeze Appoints Adolf Kristjansson as New CEO

One year after the leadership shake-up at Swedish company Starbreeze, the succession of former CEO Tobias Sjögren has now been finalised: Adolf Kristjansson will take over as the new CEO, while interim CEO Mats Juhl will return to his previous role as CFO.

The management crisis at the Swedish studio and publisher Starbreeze has now been resolved. A year ago (in German), the company’s board dismissed then-CEO Tobias Sjögren and temporarily appointed Jürgen Goeldner—who had originally been nominated as the new chairman. While Sjögren was publicly thanked for his contributions, it was clear between the lines that his departure was not entirely voluntary.

A few weeks later, Goeldner officially assumed the role of chairman and handed over day-to-day operations to Mats Juhl, who stepped in as interim CEO. Now that the succession has been formalised, Juhl will return to his position as Chief Financial Officer.

Adolf Kristjansson has been named the new CEO. He previously held various roles at EA over many years and most recently served as a board member at Thunderful.

"I join Starbreeze with great enthusiasm for the company’s current and future projects, not the least the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons title. I look forward to continuing the work of expanding the Ppayday franchise further and building Starbreeze into a true multi-title studio. Most of all, I look forward to working closely with our talented teams and engaging with our passionate player community as we build the next chapter of Starbreeze together", says Adolf Kristjansson, incoming CEO of Starbreeze.

"On behalf of the board I want to welcome Adolf to Starbreeze and I look forward to a long and fruitful cooperation. I also want to take the opportunity to thank Mats Juhl for his great contribution during his period as interim CEO.", says Jürgen Goeldner, Chairman of the Board, Starbreeze AB.