Payday 3 developer Starbreeze Studios has announced that it will self-publish the game going forward, having acquired the publishing rights from former publisher Plaion (under its Deep Silver division).
In a press release on its official website, Starbreeze board member Thomas Lindgren says the decision will allow the studio to “significantly accelerate” its planned roadmap for Payday 3, as well as to “pursue broader strategic opportunities for the Payday franchise as a whole”.
According to Starbreeze, although this decision marks the end of Starbreeze and Plaion’s publishing agreement, it “also lays the groundwork for a long-term partnership” between the two studios with regards to future Payday projects. It sounds like Plaion might well publish a hypothetical Payday 4, if that happens.
I say “if that happens”, because given Payday 3‘s dismal launch and numerous staff changes at Starbreeze owing to the game’s relative failure, Payday 4 is by no means guaranteed at this point.
Indeed, Starbreeze will likely want to try and turn Payday 3‘s fortunes around before thinking about a sequel, although given that sales were looking pretty grim around the time of the studio’s last financial results presentation, that might be a pipe dream as well.
Sadly, a quick look at Payday 3‘s Steam player numbers compared to Payday 2‘s paints a similarly depressing portrait for Starbreeze. At time of writing, Payday 2‘s 24-hour player peak stands at a mighty 25,095, while Payday 3‘s is at just 795.
Perhaps Starbreeze’s stewardship of Payday 3 can transform the game’s fortunes, but I’d be inclined to say that it might well be over for the plucky heist shooter at this point.
Outside of Payday 3 itself, Starbreeze is also pursuing other collaborations and crossovers for the Payday franchise; back in December, it was revealed that the worlds of Payday and Krafton’s PUBG will be crossing over.
Payday also isn’t Starbreeze’s only iron in the fire. The studio is also currently working on a live-service Dungeons & Dragons multiplayer game, although we don’t know too much about that project just yet.
It remains to be seen whether Payday 3‘s change in publisher will also result in a change in its fortunes. For now, though, you can pick up Payday 3 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
