At long last, Starbreeze Studios have announced plans to develop a third entry in the Payday franchise, reuniting Chains, Dallas, Hoxton, Wolf and the rest of the ever-expanding Payday gang for another assortment of over-the-top heists and bank robberies. And it sounds like the studio will have more power than ever to determine what will/won’t make it into Payday 3.
The first mention of Payday 3 arrived in a press release from Starbreeze AB, parent company for Starbreeze Studios, celebrating the company’s acquisition of the Payday intellectual property from 505 Games. The latter accepted 10.9 million B-shares of the former, worth roughly $30 million; however, Starbreeze and 505 will continue to split proceeds on PAYDAY 2: Crimewave Edition, which will still be manufactured by the franchise’s former owner. 505 Games will also receive a 33 percent revenue split, capped at $40 million, on Payday 3 when the game heads to market.
Unfortunately, the latest press release from Starbreeze AB doesn’t include a timeline for the debut of Payday 3 . The lack of launch timeline isn’t exactly shocking, given how frequently developers try to use game announcements as the launching point for the project’s marketing push, but Payday fans should be happy to hear Payday 2 won’t remain the studio’s focus forever. More importantly, the acquisition shows Starbreeze still believes in the viability of the Payday franchise. In fact, Starbreeze says it didn’t mind spending $30 million on the IP because the company believes continued sales will ultimately fund the purchase before Starbreeze even finishes Payday 3.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for more Payday 3 news throughout 2016 and for however long it takes Starbreeze Studios to release the next entry in the Payday franchise.
