Summary
Payday 3just wrapped up its first year, and its developer, Starbreeze Studios, says it feels comfortable investing significantly less in the title in year two. Despite getting off to a shaky start, the game largely turned things around after several rounds of updates and quality-of-life improvements. Still, the news thatPayday 3won’t get the same level of attention going forward may be surprising for some fans to hear.
While overall feedback on the game remains mixed,Payday 3’s recent Steam reviews are mostly positive— a feat that took roughly a year after the title’s September 2023 launch. Many of the heist simulator’s biggest issues now seem to be fixed or at least less of a concern for its growing player base. It’s that level of growth that’s led Starbreeze to feel safe pulling away fromPayday 3without fearing it will hinder the player experience.
StarbreezecitedPayday 3’s climbing review scorein its Q3 quarterly report before saying it can confidently “continue delivering amounts of value to our players with a significantly lower level of investment.” That confidence stems from a few promising trends across the past few months. After a few updates,Payday 3’s player base skyrocketedin June 2024. The studio also mentioned how its uptick in players stayed strong even when the title left Xbox Game Pass in September. Now that it looks like the game’s biggest problems are behind it, Starbreeze thinks it can sustain that success without pouring in the same amount of resources, which it mentions were “at an elevated level” in year one.
Payday 3 Has Largely Recovered After an Initial Flop
In light of those successes, it’s easy to see where Starbreeze is coming from. Since its release,Payday 3has added free heists, given players additional skill lines and items, and rolled out a few DLCs to further expand its content for those willing to pay for it. Many of the initial technical problems are also not as prominent anymore. At the same time, considering it took so much time and work to turnPayday 3into something people want to play consistently, some fans may feel it’s an odd decision to pull back now.
What less investment means in terms of the game’s ongoing support is unclear. Fewer resources pouring into the game could mean slower responses to feedback or less urgency in pushing out updates, but Starbreeze didn’t offer specifics in its report. A drop in investment isn’t the only big change coming for the game, either, asPayday 3’s director stepped downin September. Such a change like that could benefit the title in the long run, or it could be a sign that things are still shaky within the studio. For now, it’s debatable if it’s the right time to put less into the game, so Starbreeze and its player base will have to see how things progress from here.
