In an announcement on May 30, Starbreeze Studios, a Swedish game developer and publisher, obtained the Payday franchise from 505 Games for somewhere around $30 million. With the acquisition of the franchise, Starbreeze will obtain full rights to the franchise for any future development or commercialization, which includes both Payday 2 and Payday for mobile.
Also announced during a press release, Starbreeze will retain full net revenue of the Steam version of Payday 2 retroactively from May 1, while 505 Games will split the profits from the console versions of the game. Starbreeze also mentioned that 505 Games will be receiving a third of Payday 3 sales with a cap of $40 million until Starbreeze has recouped its development and marketing costs.
With no further news on Payday 3, some great news for Payday 2 players has come to light. Overkill Software announced that Payday 2 will be getting rid of its controversial micro-transaction system and will continue to provide Payday 2 with new content for at least another year and a half.
"Payday is very close to my heart, and has laid the foundation for Starbreeze success in recent years," Starbreeze CEO Bo Andersson Klint said in a statement today. "We're very excited to bring our heisters home to the safe house. To start with, we believe in the continued success of Payday 2 and will support it for at least another 18 months continuing expanding the game."
With the news this announcement has brought about, from the confirmation of Payday 3 to the removal of micro-transactions of Payday 2, are you happy with the direction of the crime-game franchise? Let us know in the comments below!
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