This morning, Starbreeze announced to have entered a co-publishing deal for PAYDAY 3 with Koch Media (owned by the Embracer Group). With the deal, over €50 million will be invested between the development and the marketing of the game, including over eighteen months of post-launch 'game as a service', that is to say, further development of content and relative marketing.
Starbreeze, which has been recovering from severe financial issues in recent years, claims that the PAYDAY 3 project is now fully financed with this deal. The Unreal Engine powered game, which began development in October 2019 (while the production phase will fully start this year), is expected to launch in 2023 as a 'coordinated release' on PC and consoles.
Tobias Sjögren, Acting CEO of Starbreeze, stated:
We are excited to announce this exclusive long-term PAYDAY 3 co-publishing deal with Koch Media who shares our passion for the PAYDAY franchise and the “Games as a service” model. In addition to securing the continued development, this deal secures global publishing of PAYDAY 3 as well as the marketing efforts through the entire game life cycle. We now have a strong foundation for a successful launch of PAYDAY 3.
Klemens Kundratitz, CEO of the Koch Media Group, added:
We are delighted to welcome Starbreeze as a new partner for our global publishing business. PAYDAY 3 is shaping up to be an incredible game. Based on what we’ve seen already, PAYDAY 3 is going to take the franchise to new heights and will delight PAYDAY fans as well as new audiences alike with innovative multiplayer gameplay.
Of course, Starbreeze remains both the owner of the IP and the company responsible for the development of the title. On the other hand, Koch Media will take care of both the physical and digital distribution of the third franchise installment.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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