Fact check: Post Title: Fun fact: The creators of Payday published the most succesful horror game, Dead By Daylight Comment Chain: 1. More information: Starbreeze Studios sold the IP rights to Behaviour Interactive two years after the game's release for $16 million dollars. Starbreeze Studios needed more funds to develop The Walking Dead game which failed miserably. In few months Dead By Daylight will receive it's biggest collab ever with Five Nights at Freddy's which will bring the game to Top 10 best sellers, revenue earners and active player bases according to researchers and game journalists. 2. Also Starbreeze Studios only invested $2 million dollars to help develop the game. If they had held on to the IP rights and partnership with Behaviour Interactive, they would have gotten 1000x more return on their investment + a larger team and funds for the development of Payday 3 today. Original Reddit link: https://www.reddit.com/r/paydaytheheist/s/IIVV6LfWjA

1. Summary of the results

The core facts about Starbreeze Studios' involvement with Dead by Daylight are largely accurate. Starbreeze did indeed invest $2 million initially in the game's development ^[1] and later sold the publishing rights to Behaviour Interactive for $16 million ^{[1] [2]}. The deal was structured with a $4 million upfront payment and $12 million in staged royalty payments ^[2].

Regarding the upcoming Five Nights at Freddy's collaboration, it is confirmed to be launching in Summer 2025 ^[3], with a Public Test Build expected in May and full release in June ^[4]. The collaboration will include Springtrap as the Killer, Michael Afton as the Survivor, and a new map with legendary skins ^[5].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several important contextual details were omitted from the original statement:

• Before the sale, Starbreeze and Behaviour Interactive had a 50/50 revenue-sharing agreement after development and marketing costs ^[2]
• The game had already achieved significant success before the sale, with 3 million copies sold and $42 million in net sales ^[1]
• The sale was actually viewed positively by Starbreeze's CEO as a way to secure and accelerate their revenues from the game ^[6]
• The upcoming FNAF collaboration will be officially revealed at PAX East on May 9th ^[4] and will be available across multiple platforms including Windows, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch ^[3]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The statement contains several potentially misleading elements:

• The claim that Starbreeze "would have gotten 1000x more return on their investment" is speculative and not supported by any of the provided sources
• The assertion about the game reaching "Top 10 best sellers, revenue earners and active player bases" is not verified by any of the provided analyses
• The characterization of the sale as a mistake overlooks the fact that it was a strategic decision to improve cash flow and fund new projects ^[1], and was considered favorable by Starbreeze's leadership at the time ^[6]
• The statement implies Starbreeze was the creator of Dead by Daylight, when in fact they were primarily an investor and publisher, with Behaviour Interactive being the actual developer