Swedish studio Starbreeze is taking its first steps into the world of third-party publishing. The developer behind games such as PayDay, The Darkness and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons has announced an $8 million deal to fund Lion Game Lion’s co-op shooter Raid: World War II.
The studio says that it’s taking the opposite approach to the traditional ”work-for-hire” publisher/developer model, in which the former takes over IP rights and carves off a huge slice of the game’s eventual sales.
”Taking an opposite approach,” the company writes in its official press release, ”Starbreeze aims at becoming a catalyst for the developer’s success. Projects will be selected and managed carefully and game developers will be encouraged to retainpart of the IP. By leveraging its know-‐how in digital publishing, distribution partnerships and game
marketing, Starbreeze will drive sales and revenue over game life‐span.”
In Croatian team Lion Game Lion’s case, Starbreeze will split revenue and IP rights 50/50 once the publisher has recouped 120% of its initial $8 million investment. I suppose owning half your intellectual property is better than giving it away entirely, though I’m not sure from the press release exactly who owns what here. Hey, I’m sure it’s fine, I’m just always worried about this kind of thing.
Anyway, Raid is described as ”an action-packed, four player co-op shooter”, which makes sense considering that LGL previously worked with Starbreeze on DLC for PayDay 2, a game that also fits that description. Judging by the promo art we’re in Kelly’s Heroes style territory here, with a band of international heroes doing their best to escape the war both alive and significantly richer.
“The dream for any developer is to make your own game with a partner who cares about your future. With Starbreeze as our wingman, we get the opportunity to show the world what we can create with our own brand. With RAID: World War II, we’re taking everything we’ve learned to create an experience to die for in a World War II setting,” writes Nikica Petrusic, president of Lion Game Lion.
Raid: World War II is in its initial production phase, with no platforms or release dates yet mentioned. We’ll keep an eye out for more information on the game.
