 According to Starbreeze , the studio both develops and produces intellectual properties and licensed projects which allow it to have creative control . According to Starbreeze 's CEO Johan <unk> , in 2008 the company did not wish to recruit numerous employees because of the time that is needed to integrate them into the company . After the 2012 departure of many employees , and the disappointing commercial sales of Syndicate , Mikael Nermark , the company 's CEO , decided to shift the company 's focus from producing standard licensed games to creating new and original intellectual properties . He stated that he believed strongly in Starbreeze 's ability to make games that are more than typical AAA games , and that its employees would consider making games their " daily work " , taking ownership of their projects . 
