If the last few years of the videogame industry have taught me anything, it’s to expect a comeback. CD Projekt Red made sure Cyberpunk 2077 would rise from the ashes, Hello Games continues to support No Man’s Sky after almost a decade, and Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 14 2.0 turned the MMO into a gargantuan success. I have faith that Payday 3 will join these games, especially after the improvements Starbreeze has made to the co-op FPS in its first year. As we enter the game’s next year of content, however, Starbreeze says it’ll be lowering investment and using a smaller team – but it’s not as bad as it might sound.
Speaking to PCGamesN earlier in the year, Starbreeze admitted that Payday 3 had a “disastrous” launch. The sequel opened its doors to new players with broken servers and technical problems, and community head Almir Listo admits the game “felt unfinished.” Payday 3 has come a long way since then, clawing to a ‘mostly positive’ Steam rating. The FPS game now has more heists, a reimagined interface, and server browsing.
Starbreeze has persevered with Payday 3 for over a year. For the next 12 months, however, the studio will have a smaller team working on the game. The ongonig Operation Medic Bag, which has produced several major updates and fixes for the shooter’s worst issues, is coming to a close. This means that the Payday 3 team will now focus on adding new content to the shooter – it already has a free legacy heist planned for December and a character pack DLC planned for 2025.
“In the coming months, the level of investment will be lower as we round off Operation Medic Bag for Payday and therefore enter year two with a smaller team focused on continuously updating the game with new content,” Starbreeze acting CEO Mats Juhl writes in a new interim report.
“The level of investment during Payday 3’s first year on the market, both through launched DLCs and Operation Medic Bag, has been at an elevated level. Ahead of year two, we are confident in being able to continue delivering amounts of value to our players with a significantly lower level of investment.”
Juhl took over as CEO from Jürgen Goeldner, who in turn replaced Tobias Sjögren as Starbreeze’s interim CEO earlier this year, when the company’s board decided it needed “different leadership” after Payday 3’s launch. Starbreeze even brought together a Payday 3 strike team to help the maligned shooter meet player expectations.
With Starbreeze altering its approach on Payday 3, the studio adds that the production of its co-op Dungeons and Dragons game “continues at full speed.” Codenamed Project Baxter, Starbreeze says the DnD game will embrace the studio’s cornerstones like co-op multiplayer, live service, and be a “larger than life experience.” It’s set for launch on all major platforms in 2026.
If you want to play even more with friends we’ve got the best co-op games available on PC right now, alongside some stellar crime games if you want to break some virtual laws.
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