Starbreeze has announced a new partnership to bring Payday to film and TV. The game studio has teamed up with Vice Studios to adapt the heist-themed game series beyond games. It appears the rights have changed hands, as Starbreeze previously announced a deal with a different company back in 2023 for a live-action adaptation of the franchise. Rights changing hands like this is not unusual.
“The parties will collaborate closely to ensure that future adaptations capture Payday’s tone, characters, and high-stakes heist energy, while inviting new audiences into the franchise,” Starbreeze said about itself and Vice Studios.
Starbreeze CEO Adolf Kristjansson said the goal is to make Payday a “fully entertainment platform.” Vice Studios president Amy Powell said Payday has lots of potential for film and TV because the series has a lot of “mythology” to be tapped into.
As part of the deal, Starbreeze confirmed it retains the ownership of the Payday IP.
Vice Studios is perhaps best known for the TV show Gangs of London. The company also helped produce the movie Bad Apples starring Saoirse Ronan.
The Payday franchise, which debuted in 2011, was created by Overkill Software. It was a quick success, and Starbreeze bought Overkill and the Payday franchise in 2012. Payday 2, which was directed by former Battlefield boss David Goldfarb, was released in 2013. A third game, Payday 3, was released in 2023, but the launch did not go smoothly and the game remains less popular than Payday 2.
On Steam, Payday 3 had a peak concurrent-player count of 712 in the last 24 hours, compared to 23,515 for Payday 2. In 2025, Payday 2 earned almost double the money as Payday 3 for Starbreeze.
Payday is one of 50+ games that is currently being adapted for a film. You can check out the gallery below to see the dozens of others.
