505 Games parent company Digital Bros. has invested $5 million USD in Swedish studio Starbreeze and cut a deal to continue funding development of Payday 2 for another two years and extend its exclusive publishing rights for the game by ten years.
Acquiring the Payday franchise has proven to be a self-fulfilling prophecy for Starbreeze, who saw a remarkable swing to profits last year driven by Payday and Payday 2 sales.
The new Digital Bros. deal means that Starbreeze will get $13.4 million to continue developing Payday 2 expansions and ports, with the promise of another $1.4 million in royalties. It also means that 505 Games could conceivably be publishing Payday 2 content through 2032.
“We’ve said that we’ll never stop making Payday and the board is extremely happy to see where the franchise is today,” stated Starbreeze chairman Michael Hjorth in a press release confirming the deal. “Payday as a franchise is here to stay and with it we are building a solid financial foundation for the company for years to come.”
For its part, Digital Bros. netted 2.67 percent of Starbreeze stock in exchange for a $5 million investment, which means the company values Starbreeze at a bit more than $187 million in total.