Starbreeze, a Swedish distributor known for games such as PADAY 2 and Dead by Daylight, announced that this year it will not attend E3 2017.
As part of its financial report for the fiscal quarter that ended on March 31, Starbreeze noted that it is usually in the second quarter (May-June) when its marketing expenses increase by E3. However, this year they preferred to do things differently by looking for alternatives that give “more party to its investment.”
The first product of this decision we already saw with the live stream that Starbreeze celebrated this week, in which they shared new details on PAYDAY 2, The Walking Dead and System Shock 3. “This year we have chosen not to participate at E3. Instead we are wholeheartedly committed to establishing our own online information platform: Starstream, which was broadcast on May 10th, 2017.”
This year, E3 2017 will take place on June 13, however, there will be pre-start conferences, and some companies have decided to make alternate events, such as EA Play. An interesting detail is that this year’s edition is shaping up to be different, since it will be open to the public and exhibitors will be able to sell merchandise.
On another issue, Starbreeze reported that PAYDAY 2 remains its main source of income. As the Overkill game has “covered its costs repeatedly” decided to support it for another year with the release of PAYDAY 2: Ultimate Edition and its VR mode.
On the other hand, it was also confirmed that there are more than 80 developers working on The Walking Dead of Overkill. In addition, they emphasized that they are focusing on the characters and “technological advances” that allow them to create a deeper replayability than what we have seen in their previous projects.
What do you think about this news? Do you think Starbreeze’s strategy will be profitable? Tell us in the comments below.
