Yes, that headline is correct. Starbreeze, the folks behind the fantastic Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay and the original The Darkness, are pairing with publisher 505 Games (whose games are of… questionable quality) to make the sequel to acclaimed downloadable co-op hiest-em-up, Payday: The Heist.
How are Starbreeze allowed to make that sequel despite the fact that they never made the original? Well, earlier this year, Starbreeze successfully completed their acquisition of Overkill Software, the developers of the original, and, as a result, gained the rights to the IP of Payday. So now you know!
In addition, under the partnership with 505 Games, Starbreeze will also be releasing another downloadable game entitled P13; this one an entirely new IP. Nothing else has been released as fact about the project, except that it will be “action-adventure” and that the developers have partnered with Swedish film director Josef Fares to help guide the game’s “storyline, look and feel”.
I still really enjoy the games of Starbreeze, I even mildly enjoyed the Syndicate reboot from earlier this year. And I thought Payday had a lot of potential that a sequel could definitely fix. This, essentially, is a match made in heaven for me. Well, except for the 505 Games part. That can go die in a hole, for all I care.