Walking Dead Co-Op FPS From Payday 2 Developer Announced for 2016

A Walking Dead co-op first-person shooter from Payday 2 developer Overkill Software is in the works, the company's owner, Starbreeze Studios, announced today. The game is called Overkill's The Walking Dead, and it claims to deliver a "completely new co-op experience" to the Walking Dead universe that will explore new characters and storylines. It is scheduled to launch in 2016.

"It will be gameplay focused, ferocious, and bring chaos to the traditional industry model--from us developers straight to you," Starbreeze CEO Bo Andersson Klint said in a statement. He added that the game represents Starbreeze's "biggest endeavor to date."

The game is being made with the blessing of The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, who says he was certain from the first day he saw the project that it was the "co-op action game fans have been waiting for." It is also the result of a new "long-term" partnership between Starbreeze and Kirkman's Skybound Interactive company. This partnership will extend "into the next decade" and marks a new era for Starbreeze, the company said.

Overkill's The Walking Dead will run on Starbreeze's Diesel engine, which the company points out has been updated "for the next generation." Platforms for the game were not mentioned, though that last line suggests Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions are in the works, presumably alongside a PC iteration. The game will be "continuously supported" with free updates and paid downloadable content.

Payday 2 director David Goldfarb recently quit Overkill Software to start his own studio. Writing on Twitter today, Goldfarb said about the new Walking Dead game: "Now this looks interesting... Good luck to the guys!"

The most recent Walking Dead FPS was Activision's The Walking Dead : Survival Instinct, which was released last year on console and PC to a cold critical reception. Telltale Games recently confirmed that it will produce a third season of its Walking Dead episodic adventure series, while a new mobile game based on the franchise is also in the works.

The mark the collaboration between Starbreeze and Skybound Interactive, Payday 2 players will get a free, Walking Dead-themed in-game weapon, a baseball bat called Lucille.