Payday 3 – Release Date, Gameplay, And Everything We Know

After years of secrecy and at least one police raid during dire times for developer Starbreeze, a new Payday game is almost here. Payday 3 is coming soon according to Starbreeze, but for now, the studio is keeping info on the game locked up tighter than a lost mouse in the Fort Knox gold deposit vault. While we’re not quite ready to don a snazzy suit, clown mask, and pull off the information-based heist of the century, we can a look at everything that we know so far about the game and how it’s shaping up.

Release date

For now, Payday 3 is aiming to arrive in 2023, 10 years after Payday 2 first launched.

Trouble (and a comeback) at Starbreeze

The game has been in development for years, and has survived a turbulent period at Starbreeze as the Stockholm-based studio was on the brink of bankruptcy after Overkill’s The Walking Dead emerged as a financially and critically disastrous game and accusations of insider trading resulted in a police raid, although former chief financial officer Sebastian Ahlskog was acquitted of these charges. After a period of reconstruction that gave it the chance to pay off its debt and once again become profitable–largely thanks to Payday 2–Starbreeze was in a much healthier financial state.

In March 2021, Starbreeze signed a $54 million publishing deal with Koch Media to assist in financing Payday 3’s development, publishing, and post-launch support plans.

Platforms

Payday 3 will launch for a wide number of systems, including PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. Starbreeze says that the game is identical on PC and consoles, thanks to it being made in the Unreal Engine.

When will more Payday 3 news be revealed?

A recent–and extremely short–teaser trailer has confirmed that a Payday 3 gameplay reveal is coming this summer, and that’s it. No exact date, mention of a livestream platform, or even a glimpse of Geoff Keighley standing in a corner with a Summer Games Fest contract. Just a shadowy figure, telling you that it’s time for a new job. Starbreeze boss Tobias Sjogren has also said in an interview that he feels the pressure to deliver with the sequel, especially given that the franchise has reached millions of peoples over the years.

Payday 3 storyline

As part of the franchise’s 10th anniversary in 2021, game director Erik Wonnevi shared a few more details on the storyline for Payday 3. The threequel is a soft reboot of the series and takes place several years after Payday 2. Dallas, Hoxton, Chains, and Wolf are back in action, and this time they’ll be pulling off heists in a version of New York City, while also dealing with cryptocurrency, mass surveillance, and dark web themes.

Payday 3 gameplay

Gameplay for Payday 3 hasn’t surfaced yet, but if its anything like the previous games, expect this sequel to evolve the heist format made popular by its predecessors. A first-person team-based shooter in which you pull off heists, Payday 3 will likely continue the themes of perfect execution of a plan and adapting your tactics when things inevitably go wrong.

Catching up on Payday

If you’re new to the series and want to get better acquainted with it, you can watch a four-part docu-series that was released to celebrate Payday’s 10th anniversary. You can watch each installment for free on YouTube, through the links below.