Payday 3 developer Starbreeze has acquired the publishing rights to their co-op heist shooter from publisher Plaion, intending to self-publish the title going forward and accelerate the game’s continued support and development.
To fund this, Starbreeze is issuing new shares in the company, looking to boost capital by around 10% and raise 33 million SEK (which is roughly £2.55 million). 29 million SEK (~£2.24 million) is being used to repay Plaion for certain obligations.
“This agreement enables Starbreeze to fully acquire the publishing rights to PAYDAY 3 from Plaion, significantly accelerate our content development roadmap, and pursue broader strategic opportunities for the PAYDAY franchise as a whole. We appreciate PLAION’s support, which underscores their confidence in Starbreeze’ future and strengthens our strategic alignment with major global industry players.” says Thomas Lindgren, Board Member of Starbreeze.
Despite the split, Starbreeze says that there could still be a long-term partnership between Starbreeze and Plaion for future Payday games and projects.
Payday 3 launched in late 2023, but failed to hit the highs and expectations from its predecessor. While it made a solid first impression – “a welcome return for the heist ’em up series, and a reminder of why the first two games were so popular,” I wrote at the time – it faced an uphill battle with its fans and launched into a much more competitive and time-demanding market for co-op games. After around 18 months of hefty reworks and patches, and the addition of the classic World First Bank heist in December it could be worth diving in. The game was a part of PS Plus monthly games back in February, and is currently on sale with 60% off on Xbox and PlayStation consoles.
Source: Starbreeze
