It was just announced that Plaion has given up the publishing rights of Payday 3 to Starbreeze Entertainment, the game’s developer. The acquisition of the Payday 3 license ended up running Starbreeze around $3.4 million in “Class B shares”.
In a recent press release, Thomas Lindgren, a board member of Starbreeze stated:
“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.”
It was also noted that this acquisition, “marks the conclusion of the current publishing arrangement” between Starbreeze and Plaion, though it seems that this won’t be the end of their professional relationship as the deal will reportedly “lay the groundwork for a long-term partnership between Starbreeze and Plaion on future Payday franchise projects.”
This publishing rights acquisition is focused entirely on Payday 3, which wasn’t very well received upon release compared to previous titles in the franchise. The likelihood of reviving this year and a half old game is dubious at best, but it will be fascinating to see what Starbreeze does to try and reinvigorate interest in their game in the weeks to come.
Are you still hopeful for a triumphant return to what made the Payday series so fun and beloved by many, or does it feel like they’ve lost too much favor with the lackluster release of their mostly unfinished third entry? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
