Liquid Swords, the Swedish studio behind open-world crime game Samson, was declared bankrupt. While the development is clearly bad news for Samson, it will not result in an immediate end to support for the game and may not necessarily spell the end of the Stockholm-based studio, which still has at least one potential path through the bankruptcy process.
Liquid Swords was founded in 2020 by Christofer Sundberg, an Avalanche Studios co-founder best known for his work on the Just Cause franchise. The studio spent several years developing Samson as its debut title before releasing the open-world game on PC in April 2026, followed by PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S ports in September.
Liquid Swords Bankruptcy Follows Months of Unpaid Salaries
The Stockholm District Court declared Liquid Swords AB bankrupt on October 12, 2026, with attorney Karl Björlin of Cirio appointed as a bankruptcy trustee. The decision followed months of financial trouble at the studio, with Swedish business outlet Breakit reporting that Liquid Swords had failed to pay employee salaries for several months. Those unpaid wages ultimately triggered the insolvency proceedings: Liquid Swords did not file for bankruptcy itself, with employees instead petitioning the court to have the company declared bankrupt after going without pay.
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What Liquid Swords Bankruptcy Means for Samson
The Open-World Crime Game Will Continue Receiving Updates, For Now
Bankruptcy does not mean Samson is being abandoned immediately. Cirio is currently offering Liquid Swords’ business and assets for sale, with the estate consisting primarily of intellectual property related to the game and indicative bids due by noon CEST on October 21. The bankruptcy estate also intends to keep Samson commercially operational so as to maintain the value of the IP it is offering to sell. In practice, that means continuing support and patches where possible during the sale process, a potentially important commitment given the significant technical problems that affected Samson at launch. A sale is not guaranteed, however, and NetEase holds security over some of the game’s key assets, meaning any buyer may also need to resolve those claims before taking full control. Such complications can make a transaction more difficult unless NetEase itself emerges as the buyer, though the Chinese gaming giant has so far given no indication that it intends to do so.
The bankruptcy has a more immediate consequence for Liquid Swords’ remaining workforce. Roughly 30 employees are affected, and the insolvency process means their current employment is coming to an end. Sweden’s state wage-guarantee system is expected to compensate eligible workers for unpaid wages, although the bankruptcy still leaves the team facing job losses after continuing to work through a period in which salaries had stopped arriving.
Samson Was Already a ‘Make-or-Break’ Release for Liquid Swords
Liquid Swords had been under significant financial pressure long before the bankruptcy order. The studio announced layoffs in February 2025 and ultimately cut roughly half its workforce, forcing it to reduce the scope of what had once been envisioned as a larger AAA project. By the time Samson was publicly revealed in late 2025, it had become a smaller, self-published game. Speaking to GameSpot shortly before its April 2026 launch, Sundberg explicitly described Samson as “make-or-break” moment for Liquid Swords and said the alternative to the earlier layoffs had been closing the studio unless additional funding materialized.
Samson Sales Revealed, Confirming the Game’s Launch Was Modest, at Best
The bankruptcy estate’s preliminary figures show that Samson had generated approximately 151,900 gross unit sales across Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox by October 14, producing roughly SEK 24.1 million ($2.4 million) in net revenue. Liquid Swords, meanwhile, recorded a loss of about SEK 39.3 million ($4 million) in 2024. NetEase’s wider cost-cutting push that is largely targeted at overseas studios suggests the Chinese company was never interested in increasing its minority stake in Liquid Swords by the time Samson released.
- Released
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April 8, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Liquid Swords
- Publisher(s)
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Liquid Swords
Source: Cirio, GameSpot
