Key facts
- Liquid Swords was declared bankrupt by the Stockholm District Court on October 12, 2026.
- The bankruptcy followed reports that developers at Liquid Swords had not been paid since August 2026, leaving about two months of unpaid wages.
- Liquid Swords was founded in 2020 by Christofer Sundberg, a former co‑founder of Avalanche Studios who oversaw development of the four Just Cause games.
- Employees of Liquid Swords petitioned the court to file the company for bankruptcy due to the prolonged non‑payment of wages.
The Stockholm District Court declared Liquid Swords bankrupt on Oct. 12, 2026, according to Kotaku and Rock Paper Shotgun. Reports that developers at Liquid Swords had not been paid since August 2026 led to the bankruptcy, leaving about two months of unpaid wages for roughly 30 employees, according to Kotaku and Rock Paper Shotgun.
Due to prolonged non‑payment of wages, employees of Liquid Swords petitioned the court to bankrupt the company, according to Rock Paper Shotgun. Before the bankruptcy, about half of Liquid Swords’ development team had been laid off while the game was being developed, according to Rock Paper Shotgun.
Christofer Sundberg founded Liquid Swords in 2020 after co‑founding Avalanche Studios, where he oversaw the four Just Cause games, according to Kotaku and Rock Paper Shotgun. The studio’s debut title, Samson, came out on Steam on Apr. 8, 2026, according to Kotaku and Rock Paper Shotgun.
When Samson launched, it earned a 51 Metacritic score, indicating mixed‑to‑negative reception, according to Kotaku. Metacritic is a review aggregator that assigns a weighted average score, according to Kotaku.
Critics pointed out that Samson suffered from many bugs and performance issues that hurt its core gameplay, according to Kotaku and Rock Paper Shotgun. Christofer Sundberg called the launch state of Samson ‘unacceptable’ and promised to fix its game‑breaking bugs and performance problems in upcoming updates, according to Kotaku. Following its debut, Samson got a Steam update on Oct. 8, 2026 and appeared on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series on Sep. 21, 2026, according to Kotaku. Updates after release tried to fix Samson’s technical problems, such as tweaking combat responsiveness and other adjustments, according to Rock Paper Shotgun.
In Samson, an open‑world beat ’em up about debt, players literally pay for being an incompetent thug, which heightens the tension, according to Rock Paper Shotgun. “You literally pay for being an incompetent thug, which ratchets up the tension and keeps you invested” according to Rock Paper Shotgun
To cover unpaid wages, the Swedish state agreed to pay Liquid Swords’ staff during the bankruptcy process, according to Kotaku and Rock Paper Shotgun. Cirio Law, the bankruptcy administrator, listed Liquid Swords and its assets—including Samson—for sale, with bids due by Oct. 21, 2026, according to Kotaku and Rock Paper Shotgun.
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