Korean games giant Smilegate invests $40m in Starbreeze

The Swedish developer will work on a new Crossfire game for Western markets

Korean game company Smilegate has invested $40m (28m) in Starbreeze.

This partnership will allow the Swedish developer to create and publish a new game based on the Crossfire series for Western markets.

CrossFire is the world’s largest grossing online FPS game with over 500m users and 6 million concurrent players, mainly originating from China. It is published by Smilegate.

This investment also grants Starbreeze distribution rights on the Smilegate download platform. The firm will use the platform to release Payday 2 and Overkill’s The Walking Dead into Asian markets.

"The Eastern entertainment market has been an enigma for western game developers and vice versa. This in-depth collaboration uniquely positions Starbreeze and Smilegate to bridge the gap between the two markets. Starbreeze gains an extraordinary market position for our present and future products," stated Bo Andersson Klint, Starbreeze CEO.