However, the agreement might eventually lead to an acquisition, but let’s not run ahead that much.
Starbreeze Studios announced that Payday 3 now has a co-publishing agreement with Koch Media that grants more than fifty million euros for the game’s development and marketing, as well as support for eighteen months post-launch, as the game is going to use the controversial GaaS (games-as-a-service) model, which is something Battlefield V or Anthem have used.
Koch Media is going to be responsible for the physical and digital distribution, while Starbreeze can get out of the financial hole it fell into after Overkill’s The Walking Dead has flopped quite hard. We previously wrote that Starbreeze outright claimed: if they can’t find a publisher for Payday 3 in 2021, they will run into more liquidity problems, or in other words: they’d run out of money again, and the game has been in development since 2019, using Unreal Engine 4.
„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,” Starbreeze Studios acting CEO Tobias Sjogren said in a press release.
„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,” Koch Media CEO Klemens Kundratitz added
Payday 3 will launch in 2023 on „consoles” (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series?) and PC. But going back to Koch Media: they are owned by Embracer Group, which recently raised 890 million dollars for more acquisitions… so they could even acquire Starbreeze, too. Until then, a key art can be seen below.
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