Starbreeze’s Payday 3 team has shared an update on what they will be doing with the game.
Payday 3 essentially made its money back, but still performed way below expectations. The title was hampered from the start, as its September 2023 launch was immediately hit by a severe bug, that the studio could not immediately fix.
The way the bug worked, if Starbreeze programmed their fix incorrectly, players would immediately lose all their saves to that point. The studio was able to avoid this disaster, but because it took too long to fix, the fanbase abandoned the game.
Now, some fans may not remember this, but this is the same Starbreeze that barely survived the disastrous release of Overkill’s The Walking Dead. They were entering this title not only with that baggage, but with a cycle of issues revolving around the late stages of Payday 2.
To cap it all off, Starbreeze is one of the many, many studios acquired by Embracer in the past two years. Embracer has already closed or laid off employees at many other talented and successful studios. It’s somewhat miraculous that it hadn’t hit Starbreeze themselves, but that may all be contingent on how well they can turn the game around.
This was what Starbreeze’s Payday 3 team shared to players today:
“We want to take some time today to explain what we’re planning for PAYDAY 3 going forward.
We’re well aware that many of you aren’t satisfied with the game the way it is in its current state. Since launch, we’ve been reading your valuable feedback in forums, social media and in video comments in addition to the FeatureUpvote page. This helps us massively and is crucial to the continued development of PAYDAY 3.
In order to turn your feedback into action, we’ve put together a strike team of veteran developers from the design, community, communication and production teams with the focus on bringing PAYDAY 3 up to where it will meet your expectations.
This team is currently creating a plan, deciding what will shape the game into the heisting experience you expect from a PAYDAY sequel in both the short & long term.
We want to be careful to not simply react, and deal with any possible improvements one by one with the care, thought and planning they deserve. In February, we will communicate a plan detailing the upcoming improvements and when you can expect to see them in the game.”
