Dead by Daylight has been a major success for developer Behaviour Interactive and publisher Starbreeze Studios. Initially, Starbreeze invested $2 million (USD) in its development, and the game has gone on to sell 3 million copies since launch. Now the two partners are ending their relationship as Behaviour buys back the rights in a deal worth $16 million ($4 million now, the rest as future royalties). Starbreeze is happy with the deal as it frees up some capital, while they remain committed to their publishing business that will see games like Psychonauts 2 and System Shock 3 released in the future.
Starbreeze iterated its commitment to being a "good publisher" where the profits are shared 50/50 between publisher and developer.
Behaviour Interactive, on the other hand, is a very busy studio these days with mobile games based on Westworld and Game of Thrones, as well as contributing to the upcoming Defiance 2050, and of course, continued work on Dead by Daylight. Via press release, CEO and executive producer, Rémi Racine, had this to say:
"We are incredibly proud of everything we have accomplished on Dead by Daylight, building a strong IP that has sold over 3 million copies. Our community is the backbone of our success and we are totally committed to continue investing and growing the game. We would like to thank the team at Starbreeze for their collaboration and efforts to jointly make Dead by Daylight a success."