Dead by Daylight developer to acquire publishing rights from Starbreeze

Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive has agreed to purchase the publishing rights to the title from Starbreeze. 

Behaviour will shell out $16 million to acquire the rights to the popular survival horror title, which has sold over 3 million copies and pulled in net sales of over $41 million since launching in June 2016. 

Starbreeze will receive an initial payment of $4 million, with the remaining $12 million to be paid in stages as royalties. The Swedish publisher will retain control over the game's payment streams until the transaction is completed. 

Although Behaviour created Dead by Daylight, Starbreeze helped development along by investing around $2 million in the title. 

As part of the original publishing deal, both companies agreed to split net revenues 50/50 after development and marketing costs. 

Once the rights have been fully acquired by Behaviour, Starbreeze will no longer have any connection to the game -- though it will require compensation if the title launches in China before 2020. 

"We are concluding the partnership with Behaviour in a favorable manner, and Dead by Daylight has become an even better deal for Starbreeze," said Starbreeze CEO, Bo Andersson Klint. 

"In addition to securing and accelerating our revenues from the game, we will incur no costs related to further development and marketing. Through this deal, we expect the profits from the game to exceed our projection for the remaining lifespan for the title."