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Payday 2 set to take Steam on August 13
Overkill Software's Payday 2 is ready for action on August 13 through Steam. Overkill also confirmed this morning the game will show up to other platform parties between August 13 and 16. "A big thank you to our Payday community, to everyone who has helped us beta test the game so far and posted messages online, sent us feedback and told us how much you appreciate our work. We salute you," the dev wrote as part of the announcement. Have fun storming the vault, hope you make it back.
Strict planning and randomized robbery in Payday 2
Hollywood heist movies typically give equal billing to the planning phase and the execution of the robbery. The original Payday offered players one half of the traditional blockbuster heist experience, throwing players into a heavily-scripted level against a seemingly relentless tidal wave of AI enemies and calling it a day. In Payday 2, the crucial planning stage has finally been added, dividing jobs into several phases that spread out over the course of a number of days and randomizing the outcomes for would-be robbers.%Gallery-193877%
Payday 2 dev diary treads softly, carries a big gun
Developer Overkill Software has added stealth mechanics to Payday 2, happy news for those who favor sneaking over bursting in, guns blazing. Keep those guns ready, though - we've seen enough heist movies to know that they all inevitably devolve into a shootout.
Payday 2 web series continues in 'The Vault'
This second episode of the live-action Payday 2 web series picks up where the first one left off: the crew is in the middle of robbing a bank and is about to make its escape from the vault. Payday 2 will launch on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in August.
Payday 2 wants unmarked, non-sequential bills this August
Starbreeze-owned developer Overkill Software will launch Payday 2 this August on consoles and PC. Publisher 505 Games announced this morning the game will no longer be limited to digital distribution networks, with retail versions planned for Xbox 360 and PS3. "We're expecting great things from Payday 2 and are really looking forward to working with our retail partners all over the world to make it the huge success it deserves to be," said 505 Games Head of Global Brand Tim Woodley. Payday: The Heist sold around a half-million copies and the sequel received a creative injection last year when it was announced Battlefield 3 lead designer David Goldfarb exited EA to work on the project.
Ex-Battlefield lead David Goldfarb now at Starbreeze, working on Payday sequel
Last month, we heard that Battlefield 3 lead designer David Goldfarb exited EA's Sweden-based DICE studio. It seems that Goldfarb is staying in the country, as he's accepted a job at Starbreeze-owned developer Overkill Software. Goldfarb announced as much on Twitter, donning the above Payday: The Heist mask and scaring children worldwide.Goldfarb is set to work alongside studio lead Ulf Andersson on a sequel to Payday, as well as an unannounced title Overkill is working on. "I've worked on these huge games, and that was great, but I really wanted to work on smaller, tighter, and more intimate projects that are more gameplay driven, and I saw the opportunity to do that here," Goldfarb told Develop. Andersson added, "I'm really looking forward to this to see if we can make something really cool together."
Payday: The Heist 'Wolfpack' DLC coming next week in US, available now in EU
It may not be a zombie-filled hospital, but Payday: The Heist's "Wolfpack" DLC does include new weapons, missions, and what appears to be some kind of fog-spewing basement or stairwell. You also get two new heists, a new crew member called "The Technician," a raised level cap and a few extra weapons when the DLC launches in North America, on August 7 for $9.99. If you're more into robbing French banks than American ones, the content pack has already been released in Europe for £6.49/€7.99.%Gallery-161546%
Payday's bank robbers take over Left 4 Dead's Mercy Hospital
Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time! The bank robbing bad guys from Payday are getting crossed with Left 4 Dead's zombie-filled Mercy Hospital – apparently prior to the events of L4D – in an upcoming mission pack. See for yourself above.
Payday: The Heist - No Mercy sets the scene for Left 4 Dead [Update: It's 'not canon,' Valve clarifies]
A trailer posted by Overkill Software (since pulled) revealed the collaboration between Overkill and Valve as Payday: The Heist - No Mercy, a Payday game (either a new standalone release or a DLC expansion, it's unclear which) that crosses Overkill's heist series with Left 4 Dead.The trailer reveals that the episode will act as a prequel for Valve's zombie shooting series, with a heist in Left 4 Dead's Mercy Hospital. "Have you ever wondered how the Left 4 Dead series began?" the YouTube description asks. "It started with a heist!" So by playing this, you'll very likely trigger the zombie pandemic in those two games. Real nice, butterfingers.Update: Valve's Chet Faliszek has clarified to Kotaku that the YouTube video isn't a prequel, saying the video description was the work of "some over-excited marketing guys." The map is a Overkill mission "simply set in no mercy hospital," he says. It is not part of the Left 4 Dead narrative in any way.
Payday dev collaborating with Valve on Left 4 Dead 'co-operative initiative'
Payday: The Heist studio Overkill Software and Valve Software are working on ... something together. What that something is remains to be seen, as Overkill game director Ulf Andersson only described the collaboration as a "co-operative initiative" between the two companies. We do know that it'll involve both Overkill's Payday: The Heist and Valve's Left 4 Dead – two team-focused four-player co-operative romps (enough hyphens for you?)."We are working on a very cool blend of Payday and Left 4 Dead," Andersson wrote on his company's official site. "I am sure it is so exciting that it will have some players check into the hospital before we are done." Oh, hospital, you say? We see what you're doing there, you crazy Swedes you!Andersson apparently couldn't help himself, and added one more zombie-themed quip. "Keep an eye out for more on this infectious and developing story." We know at least one guy we won't be letting into the safe house.
Starbreeze's 'P13' headed to XBLA, PSN, and PC
Compared to other Swedish game development powerhouses – DICE, Avalanche, Massive – Syndicate developer Starbreeze keeps a lower profile. Having only released two projects in the last five years, Starbreeze isn't offering many consistent reminders that it still exists. Company president and CEO Mikael Nermark is aiming to change that, and his first two major projects are two games you probably haven't heard of: P13 and Cold Mercury."We're trying to build four independent core teams," Nermark told me in a phone interview earlier today. Beyond the existing teams at Starbreeze, the newly acquired Overkill Software wil serve as one of those four teams. So, four "core teams," four projects. We know Overkill is working on a sequel to last year's Payday: The Heist, and we know that two other teams are working on P13 and Cold Mercury (respectively), but that fourth team is a mystery.Nermark wouldn't budge on new details about Cold Mercury, but he told me that P13 is currently "in the middle of production" and "it's going really well." The game is heading to Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and PC. Starbreeze brought in an outside force to take creative lead on the project: Swedish director Josef Fares."He's one of the most or maybe the most famous movie directors in Sweden of all time. He's never done a game before, but he's an avid gamer and he loves games. So he actually left the movie industry and this guy is like having one of the top guys – this is the top guy in Sweden making movies. So he's actually working for us full-time," Nermark said. "To Swedes, this is like having a guy like Christopher Nolan working on the game on a daily basis."
Payday: The Heist sells 400,000 copies
Payday: The Heist developer Overkill Software picked up quite the haul from its bank robbery simulator, with over 400,000 sales since the game's launch last October. The PC and PSN title made £1.42 million ($2.3 million) in revenue and £388,000 ($625,000k) in "net profit" for the studio.It was announced today that Syndicate developer Starbreeze is attempting to purchase Overkill. Work has already begun on planning expansions and a sequel for further Paydays. For giggles, we've contacted Overkill to find out how many copies of the game were stolen.
Starbreeze attempting acquisition of Payday: The Heist studio
Starbreeze, the Swedish studio that brought the world the surprise hit Chronicles of Riddick and the recent reboot of Syndicate, is attempting an acquisition of Payday: The Heist studio Overkill Software. Pending approval by Starbreeze's shareholders, the move will see Overkill's IP (including Payday) and staff become part of Starbreeze's stable.Beyond the acquisition of IP and staff, Overkill is set to establish a new Starbreeze office based out of Stockholm, Sweden. "Starbreeze has graphical emphasis, and Overkill has total focus on innovative gameplay. Together we form a unique constellation of creative forces," Overkill creative director Ulf Andersson said of the acquisition in a press release.Overkill Software was formed in the ashes of former third-party mega studio Grin Software back in 2009, after it collapsed following several commercially unsuccessful projects. Brothers Bo and Ulf Andersson started Overkill, and it's unclear how their roles will change (if at all) in the new setup. The acquisition – if approved by Starbreeze's shareholders – is set to go into effect in mid-June.
Payday: The Heist breaks out with a free update
The high action crime caper game, Payday: The Heist, received a long-awaited update last night, adding a number of new features, including presidential masks, an OVERKILL 145+ difficulty, and other enhancements. Fans make out with the update for free.For those catching up: In Payday: The Heist, players team up to pull off action-movie style crime jobs. It's currently available for both the PC and PS3.%Gallery-152557%
Payday: The Heist steals some of your time, is free this weekend
All right guys, here's the plan: You see that game over there, Payday: The Heist? Well we're gonna boost it. First, we have to get past the 18 layers of invisible infrared lasers that line the hallway leading to the safe room. Concord will be introducing his own beams into the system, so if all goes according to plan, those should be no problem.After that, Harwell is going to use a complicated system of ropes and pulleys to suspend ... What? What do you mean, "Payday: The Heist is free on Steam until 4 PM Eastern, March 4." Patsy, I spent weeks putting this job together. Fine, you know what? You're all fired.
Payday: The Heist scores October 18 launch
The PSN launch of Payday: The Heist will bring the heat and set it off on October 18 in North America. A European date for PSN has yet to be confirmed. The high-stakes robbery simulator features six co-op heist situations, with the Slaughter House scenario featured in the clip above. According to Steam, the PC version is still due in "October." Remember: if you purchased all the titles in the PSN Play promotion, a Payday voucher should be your payoff. %Gallery-136436%
Payday: The Heist delayed to 'later this month'
Nobody likes to discover that Payday's been moved. The PSN release of Payday: The Heist, the co-op robbery game by Overkill Software, is the subject of a rare release-day delay, bumped from its original date of today to "later in October." According to Steam, the PC version is also due in "October." We suppose a game with this many masks just gravitates toward Halloween. Payday was to be the triumphant payoff of Sony's "PSN Play" promotion, and that offer is still in effect. If you've purchased all of the other PSN Play games, you'll still get your voucher for a free PS3 copy of the game.
Payday: The Heist media gets away with it
What do you get when you combine the Gorton's Fisherman and Killer Clowns from Outer Space? You get our nightmares (obviously) but now you also get this new media for Payday: The Heist. We guess it's been a rough year for the fishing industry.
Payday: The Heist screens straight from our Panic Room
Hey Payday: The Heist? You seem like a pretty cool idea for an online FPS, and we're looking forward to downloading you from PSN. But if you're going to call one of your scenarios "Panic Room" and then release screens from it and have none of them feature Jodie Foster then what are you even doing? %Gallery-128864%
Payday: The Heist announced, hopes to steal your free time on PSN
The Official PlayStation Blog has announced a brand new title called Payday: The Heist, a downloadable first-person shooter for PSN built around a series of six high-stakes robberies. With AI or fellow co-op players, you'll charge into banks, prisons, and armored cars to get the goods and get out as alive as possible. The graphics look ... serviceable, but there's supposed to be some depth here too, with three classes to play with, and an experience-based upgrade system to unlock new weapons and other accessories. The game's being developed by Overkill Software, and all we know about them is they're run by Bo Andersson, a Swedish developer from Grin, the company that developed Bionic Command: Rearmed and the PC ports for Tom Clancy's GRAW and its sequel. So there's a little pedigree here to begin with. We'll have to see how the game looks in full action later next week at E3.
