In the hype for next generation consoles, with cutting edge IPs and fresh sequels of big franchises, Payday 2 snuck in to become the surprise number one UK hit for the week, dethroning Minecraft, which was set to have been on top for a month. Black Ops 2, FIFA 13, Animal Crossing: New Leaf and The Last Of Us hung on to fill out 3rd to 6th place on the charts.
If you were caught unaware and didn’t know about this game too, Payday 2 is a cooperative first person shooter, where you and your friends coordinate bank heists. The new game mostly retains and improves on the core mechanics of the original, as well as adding in a new gameplay mechanic called Crime Net. Maybe the huge reception to the game should not have been such a surprise, considering it had been two years since the original game and it received rave reviews all around.
On Twitter and Facebook, publisher 505 Games has had to fend off questions from UK gamers why supply ran out so fast. In their own words, retailers did not anticipate that there would be this much demand for the game, and subsequently did not order enough stock. 505 Games is now working with the same retailers to restock as soon as possible, and is in fact shipping copies everyday.
@Bmaines98 Payday 2 was a much more popular game than many retailers planned for. Reorders have been placed & we are making & shipping more.
— 505 Games (@505_Games) August 19, 2013
Even then, they may not be catching up to demand soon enough. Ebay offers for the game have come up for as much as 65 pounds, or almost $ 102.
By the way, the game happens to also be available digitally, on PSN, XBLA and even Steam. The original Payday was itself a digital download only title. Consider this, as well as prior demand for Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition, as a sign that consumer demand for retail packages remains very high.
