Payday 3 finally finds a publisher, set to release in 2023

Payday 3
(Image credit: Starbreeze Studios)

After a rough couple of years that saw Payday studio Starbreeze flirt with bankruptcy and its chief financial officer charged and convicted of insider trading, the company has finally found a publisher for the long-awaited Payday 3: Koch Media, the parent company of Deep Silver and itself a division of Embracer Group, formerly known as THQ Nordic.

It's all a bit complicated on the corporate side, but the important thing is that Payday 3 is finally more than a promise of something that will happen someday.

"In addition to securing the continued development, this deal secures global publishing of Payday 3 as well as the marketing efforts through the entire game life cycle," acting Starbreeze CEO Tobias Sjögren said. "We now have a strong foundation for a successful launch of Payday 3."

The deal goes beyond the initial release of Payday 3 to include up to 18 months of games-as-a-service support, similar to what Starbreeze has done (and continues to do) with Payday 2. Despite a blowup with fans in 2015 over the addition of microtransactions (which were eventually dropped), it's a formula that's worked well: Payday 2 was released in 2013 and over the past 30 days had an average concurrent player count in excess of 25,000.

"We are delighted to welcome Starbreeze as a new partner for our global publishing business," Koch Media CEO Klemens Kundratitz said. "Payday 3 is shaping up to be an incredible game."

Alas, there is still much work to be done: Payday 3 won't be out until 2023.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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