Behaviour Interactive, developer and publisher of Dead by Daylight, has acquired The Fun Pimps, which is the studio behind the renowned 7 Days to Die.
Announced via a press release earlier today, Behaviour praised the successful early access period for the zombie survival game, which has accrued over 20 million sales. Now, it sees the acquisition as a way to “reward” a passionate and dedicated community by “supporting the project’s development and expanding its resources.” Behaviour claims there won’t be any changes to its “creative leadership.”
As such, The Fun Pimps will continue to lead all development on 7 Days to Die. Behaviour is set to provide additional support, expertise, and production capacity, granting the team the resources necessary to “accelerate development of their existing road map.”
“Over more than a decade, 7 Days to Die has established itself as a beloved franchise, inspiring more than 20 million players,” Behaviour CEO and co-founder Rémi Racine said in the announcement. “It fits naturally within Behaviour’s goal of assembling a diverse, high-quality horror portfolio. It’s also an ideal complement to Dead by Daylight—both games have steadily grown alongside their communities.
“This is a huge moment for our game and our business,” The Fun Pimps co-founder Richard Huenink said. “When we started this company thirteen years ago, we never imagined 7 Days to Die would become what it is today. That growth has come from our community, who have driven our game forward from the beginning. To keep giving them what they deserve, we knew we needed a partner who shared our ambitious vision for the future. Behaviour turned out to be exactly that.”
According to a FAQ on Behaviour’s site, Dead by Daylight and 7 Days to Die remain “fully staffed, fully resourced, and committed to delivering the experiences their respective communities expect.”
Behaviour shut down a studio and laid off over a hundred developers in 2024
Behaviour has been on an acquisition spree during the last couple of years. In 2022, it acquired Midwinter Entertainment. In 2023, it snapped up SockMonkey Studios and Codeglue, the latter named to Behaviour Rotterdam. In 2024, it was Fly Studio and Red Hook Studios.
These acquisitions, however, have come with a human cost. The company kicked off 2024 by laying off “less than 3 percent” of its total workforce in January, amounting to around 45 employees.
Then, five months later, Behaviour cut 95 additional jobs in an “strategic corporate change,” citing the challenging context of the industry. “While changes to our structure and strategic vision have led to challenging decisions, we are confident that these decisions will position us for continued success,” said CEO and co-founder Racine at the time.
Three months later, Behaviour went ahead and shut down Midwinter Entertainment, following the cancellation of an in-development project. “This decision was taken following a diligent risk assessment from a commercial and a product perspective, which yielded unsatisfactory results,” a company spokesperson said in a statement at the time.
In an interview, Racine said that buying Red Hook Studios is “reducing risk for Behaviour,” and that having a second original successful title is appealing to the company.