Starbreeze Looking To Purchase Overkill Software, Payday Sequel Coming, More

Syndicate and Riddick developers Starbreeze are interested in purchasing Overkill Software, the developers of Payday: The Heist for PSN. Starbreeze has also revealed that a sequel to Payday is in development at Overkill, in addition to revealing some of their own projects.

Eurogamer reports that Starbreeze has agreed on a deal to purchase Overkill and will acquire the studio pending shareholder approval. Starbreeze CEO Mikael Nermark said that Starbreeze will acquire the Payday: The Heist IP and that Overkill will work on the sequel to the game after finishing their work “growing” the first Payday and enhancing the game’s experience. Nermark also said that he believes that by broadening their portfolio and acquiring Overkill, they’ll be stronger in the eyes of publishers.

Starbreeze isn’t just acquiring staff, though — they’re hard at work, with each of their three core teams working on a different title. The first game is P13, a self-funded title being developed with Swedish filmmaker Josef Fares, and is scheduled to be released on PSN, XBLA, and PC. Starbreeze is currently in final negotiations with a publisher for the title.

Nermark described P13 as an “interesting” and “different kind of game.” He thinks that people will be surprised that Starbreeze is making it.

The second game is Cold Mercury, a game with a twist on the free-to-play model described as “free-to-play-ish.” Nermark said that Cold Mercury is in the very early stages of development, but claims that what Starbreeze learned from Syndicate‘s co-op has been brought into the game.

Nermark would not say anything about the third game, with Eurogamer’s report describing it as “super secret.”

Nermark also revealed that a sequel to Syndicate isn’t in development, but that Starbreeze would like to make one:

We think EA is a great partner and Syndicate is a great franchise. If the opportunity arises again, we definitely would want to do another Syndicate. But no, there’s no decision about making another Syndicate.

We still want to do it, but when we bring in this shorter development, as with Payday, Cold Mercury and P13, it mixes things up. The triple-A game we make will be even better because we can bring passion back into that.

What’s your reaction to all of the Starbreeze news, including their potential acquisition of Overkill? Let us know in the comments below!

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