Starbreeze needs Payday 3 distribution deals to survive om

Starbreeze, the Swedish publisher and developer of Payday 2, is still looking for deals for the distribution of Payday 3. That game should be released sometime in 2022 or 2023. Starbreeze needs more money to survive.

Without additional financing, revenue from divestments or distribution agreements for Payday 3, there is a risk of a liquidity shortage by the end of this year, Starbreeze writes in a report on its quarterly figures. If such a deal is not made, the company will not have enough money to survive another 12 months. While the report describes this risk, it also states that the board is confident that a deal will be struck.

Starbreeze said in late 2019 that Payday 3 is planned to be released in 2022 or 2023. At the time, Starbreeze said it would enter into agreements with distributors in the next year to raise funds for further development. This could include finding a publisher or a games store, such as the Epic Games Store, that pays for temporary exclusivity.

With Starbreeze now indicating that it is still looking for distribution partners, it appears that no major deal has been made for Payday 3. At the end of last year, Starbreeze said that Payday 3 is in the design phase and that the game will be made with Unreal Engine.

In 2020, Starbreeze suffered a loss of 130.5 million Swedish kronor. Converted that is about 13 million euros. The loss was therefore much lower than a year earlier. At that time it was still 452.4 million kroner, or 45 million euros. The company says it is now in better financial shape and has money to continue developing Payday 3.

Starbreeze ran into serious financial trouble a few years ago when Overkill’s The Walking Dead flopped. The company had to reorganize and has sold studios and rights to various games to stay afloat. The developer also picked up the development of his successful game Payday 2 again. That proved effective; last quarter, 94 percent of revenue came from that game.

Payday 3 teaser image