Wouldn't you need to provide the `start-stop-daemon` path to Play! running pid file via the `--pidfile` argument to achieve the functionality you are looking for?

You can also change the location of the pid file generated by Play! using `-Dpidfile.path=...` and its recommended you change this to `/var/running`. If you want to let Upstart to completely mange the pid you can always get Play! to send it to `/dev/null`
http://www.playframework.com/documentation/2.2.x/ProductionConfiguration