The trademark for Payday: Crime War was filed by New Starbreeze Publishing AB mid-2021 in Sweden, adding to recent reporting that the mobile game’s development had been resumed. In April, earlier this year, Starbreeze confirmed that it was working with mobile game developer PopReach to get Payday: Crime War made. PopReach, the developer of War of Nations and Smurfs’ Village, then confirmed in July that it planned to soft launch Payday: Crime War. PopReach has notably made no announcements since.
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For those unfamiliar, Payday: Crime War is not a new game. The mobile game was originally soft-launched back in 2019 as part of a partnership between Starbreeze and NBC Universal. However, the game shut down its servers in December 2019 when NBC Universal shut down its publishing operations. Starbreeze was left with a game near completion but no publisher. The new partnership effectively hands Payday: Crime War as it currently exists to PopReach, who will take care of all development, publishing, and post-launch operations going forward.
There’s still a lot that can happen in the coming months. PopReach’s silence regarding Payday: Crime War, especially after previously saying it wanted to soft-launch the spin-off in late 2021, is notable. Adapting the game for PopReach’s plans may not have worked out as planned, or it could simply be taking more time than expected. Starbreeze hasn’t provided an update on the situation, either.
Starbreeze appears to be hoping Payday: Crime War will help to build some energy and excitement surrounding the franchise ahead of its planned release for Payday 3. Starbreeze subsidiary Overkill Software, the developer of Payday and Payday 2, is hard at work on the new game. Koch Media will be publishing, taking over those responsibilities from Payday 2 publisher 505 Games.
For Payday fans, there’s a lot to be excited about in the franchise’s future. There’s a potential soft-launch of Payday: Crime War later this year, a potential full launch in 2022, and then Payday 3 to follow in 2023. Considering it’s been eight years of Payday 2 post-launch support, fans are certain to be anxious for something new. They’ll just have to be a patient a bit longer.
Payday: Crime War is tentatively planned to launch on mobile devices in 2022.
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