Payday 3, “Fully Financed” & Release Window Set

Say what you will about Payday 2: I enjoy it despite many many flaws. Though I continue my usual loud anger for all the DLC and extra bits constantly added on, with Starbreeze viewing the phrase “games as a service” as nothing more than “continuous development.” I don’t think I am alone when I say that my first and only thought about the money people in the games industry is, “This would be a better industry if you just weren’t in it.” That said, money talk with Starbreeze means we have to roll out articles on their downfall in recent years.

In fact, money trouble lead to Rockstar buying an art studio from them. A series of layoffs came along less than a month later. Then came pre-development hell for Payday 3 which is a stage it has been stuck in for a while. Well, the latter seems to be more or less solved, for the time being, with the possibility of helping the developer dig themselves out of this hole. In a press release sent out this morning, Koch Media and Starbreeze have come to an agreement for the former to co-publish the third game in the Payday series.

The acting CEO of Starbreeze stated: “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.” They went on on to state, “We now have a strong foundation for a successful launch of PAYDAY 3.” From there on, beyond the announcement, it is the load of fluff you usually see in these press releases about each company and their commitments. The most interesting detail you’d like to know is that at this time, both companies have set out a release window of 2023 for both PC and consoles.

The investment by Koch Media, according to the press release, is a total of €50-million Euro. This lump sum is set to be used for both the development and marketing of Payday 3, with 18-months of “games as a service,” or the so-called, post-launch development.