Starbreeze has announced a partnership with production company Stockholm Syndrome, with a view to creating a PayDay story for TV or film, before finding a partner to distribute it worldwide.
In a press release sent out this morning, Starbreeze said that part of the agreement means that LA-based production company Stockholm Syndrome will have an exclusivity period for the PayDay brand, during which time it can “represent the PayDay IP and work on it with talent such as writers and directors”.
It’s been twelve years since the first game in the series was released, and a new title (PayDay 3) is due sometime this year. Starbreeze says there’s an install base of nearly 40 million players, which is obviously a lot.
“We are very pleased to partner with Stockholm Syndrome with the mutual ambition to bring our franchise to new heights and an even broader audience. It is a milestone on our journey to create IP that expands beyond the realm of games, and Stockholm Syndrome is a great partner and meshes perfectly with our mission to build an even broader and more engaged community.”, says Tobias Sjögren, CEO of Starbreeze.
“We’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of different IPs over the years, and PAYDAY has always been on our radar. It has a cinematic quality and narrative that lends itself to a fantastic live-action adaptation.”, says Peter Settman, Founder of Stockholm Syndrome.
The CEO of Stockholm Sydnrome, Greg Lipstone said that ““The timing couldn’t be more perfect. The appetite for strong gaming IP’s with a highly engaged fan base, is bigger than ever before. Just look at the success of The Last of Us, Halo, and The Witcher all based on well-known games”.
The production company has worked with Lionsgate, Viapllay, PopTV, and others, and was previously known as “Brain Academy”, before going fully independent and settling on the renamed “Stockholm Syndrome”.