Starbreeze brings the PAYDAY-franchise to mobile devices with strategic 1.4 MUSD cash investment in Cmune
Starbreeze will maintain ownership of IP. In addition to commissioning Cmune as games developer, Starbreeze acquires 6.3% of the mobile specialist, bringing Starbreeze’s total investment to 1.4 MUSD.
505 Games, Starbreeze's publishing partner for the overall PAYDAY-franchise, will be the co-publisher of the mobile game.
“We see Cmune as a long-term partner and are very happy to join other notable partners as investors in the company.” said Bo Andersson Klint, CEO of Starbreeze AB. “We’re used to seeing PAYDAY in a cooperative setting, and are really excited to explore how PAYDAY can evolve onto new platforms and see what we can do with competitive gameplay on mobile.”
“We’re excited to support PAYDAY with our extensive experience in the mobile market and to be the publishing partner of Starbreeze for this new deal.” said Raffaele Galante, CEO of Digital Bros. “We believe that the brand will benefit hugely from broadening to mobile by reaching an even wider audience. This franchise still has enormous potential and we are sure that it will achieve great results on mobile as it has for the Steam and console versions.
Cmune is an acclaimed international game developer behind games such as UberStrike, the #1 multiplayer First Person Shooter (FPS) on browser with over 25 million players. Cmune is re-imagining multiplayer action for touch, with its new title Bullet Rush, and an upcoming title Deadheads, both multiplayer FPS titles designed exclusively for touch devices. The company has studios in Hong Kong and Beijing, and representation in San Francisco. Atomico and DCM Ventures are both investors in the company, as well as a dozen mobile and gaming industry veterans.
"We see a huge opportunity in the marriage of first class IP like PAYDAY and mobile. There's a market hungry for a fresh take on FPS in both the east and west, which we plan to capture." said Ludovic Bodin, CEO and co-founder of Cmune. "When we looked at how PAYDAY could play out on mobile, it came incredibly natural. We've got some amazing ideas and really cutting edge tech to make something worthy of all the PAYDAY fans out there," said Shaun Lelacheur-Sales, CTO and co-founder of Cmune.
More information about the product will be disclosed at a later date. First launched in 2011, PAYDAY is a cooperative first-person shooter computer and video game franchise with more than 9 million players on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
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For more information please contact:
Starbreeze Investor Relations Contact: Maeva Sponbergs, Investor Relations, Starbreeze AB. Tel: +46(0)8-209 208, email: ir@starbreeze.com
Brief information about Starbreeze:
Starbreeze is an independent creator, publisher and distributor of high quality entertainment products, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. At Starbreeze we create games by our own design and through licensed content, establishing franchises that can live and prosper outside the game itself. We live and die by gameplay.
Starbreeze is pioneering digital self-publishing, currently hosting one of the largest community groups on the digital distribution platform Steam. Starbreeze’s most recent products include PAYDAY 2, our adrenaline fuelled bank robbing co-op game and the critically acclaimed Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons.
Starbreeze AB is publicly traded on Nasdaq Stockholm First North Premier under the ticker STAR and the ISIN code: SE0005992831. Remium Nordic is the company Certified Adviser. Starbreeze brands include OVERKILL Software and the PAYDAY series.
For more information, please visit http://www.www.starbreeze.com.
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