At the game's outset, he is protecting a wealthy real estate man named Rodrigo Branco and his family.
Without the badge weighing him down, Payne leaves New York for São Paulo, Brazil, at the urging of a former police academy classmate, Raul Passos, and gets into the private security industry. Set eight years after the previous game, Max is still addicted to booze and painkillers. Max Payne is no longer a police officer in this new sequel. Early screenshots depicted Max as an older, bald man, although subsequently released screenshots showed Max with hair while initially this was thought to be the result of the aforementioned stylistic changes, this is explained in the story arc of the game. Since its announcement, the game appeared to have undergone some significant stylistic changes. Rockstar's Vancouver studio was the lead developer, breaking the series away from its previous developer, Remedy Entertainment. The possibility of a Max Payne 3 was first hinted at in the closing moments of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne with the words 'Max's Journey into the Night Will Continue.' Originally announced for release in 2009, the game was postponed several times before finally being released, first on consoles in North America on the 15th of May, 2012, and finally making it over to PC on the 1st of June, with releases in other areas coming slightly afterwards.
