Amidst all the job cuts and studio closures it is nice to be able to report on a company that is doing very well at the moment. Swedish developer Starbreeze Studios, who are about to finish up work on The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, reports a revenue increase of 54 per cent year over year (October-December). Starbreeze have also increased its staff from 86 people (June 08) to 93 people (Dec 08), and they signed a contract in November to work on a Jason Bourne title with EA (recently announced) on top of Project Redlime - a project that is reinventing a classic EA franchise (rumours say it is Syndicate).
The heavy fall of the Swedish currency compared to the dollar makes Starbreeze a very competitive alternative to many of its competitors these days. Another reason for the increase in profit is that the Riddick project required slightly fewer resources than expected to finish.