The developer of Payday 3, Starbreeze, announced they are making a licensed Dungeons & Dragons game set for launch in 2026.
Codenamed Project Baxter, the game will add to D&D‘s gaming universe following the vast success of Baldur’s Gate 3 and will be produced in Unreal Engine 5 for a release on all major platforms—with crossplay built into the game.
In a reveal on the Starbreeze website, as spotted by IGN, few details were announced for the planned title, but players were told to expect the “signature game cornerstones of Starbreeze’ productions,” including co-operative multiplayer.
A main difference between this title and Baldur’s Gate 3, however, is that Project Baxter is planned as a “Games as a Service” model, whereas Larian Studios’ venture was a story-driven adventure that, while receiving several updates since launch, has steered clear of the live-service content that has become increasingly widespread in gaming.
Eugene Evans, SVP of Digital Strategy & Licensing at Wizards of the Coast, described the partnership with Starbreeze as a “prime illustration” of the companies’ objectives and expressed confidence that the game will “delight fans worldwide.” Tobias Sjorgren, Starbreeze CEO, added that it “is hard to imagine a better pairing” and that development is in “full swing.”
While a 2026 release window is a while away, problems with Payday 3 at launch are still fresh in the memory of players and popularity has waned. In November, players spoke about their issues of finding a game and one player described the title as on “life support.” A troubled launch saw players return to the previous entry of the series, Payday 2, in droves—so major improvements will need to be shown in Starbreeze’s D&D game.
Hopefully, lessons will have been learned from those issues and, with years until the launch, there’s plenty of time to get things right.
Published: Dec 4, 2023 01:15 pm