Payday 3 has been nothing short of a disaster for developer Starbreeze Studios. As big of a success as its predecessor was, since its launch last year, the multiplayer shooter has consistently been on the receiving end of criticism from its ever-dwindling player base. Starbreeze itself has stated repeatedly that Payday 3 has been performing below the company’s internal expectations– and that continued underperformance is now yielding predictable consequences.
In its recently published quarterly fiscal report, the developer has announced its plans to “significantly” decrease investment in Payday 3 and its post-launch plans, which doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in the game’s future.
“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,” Starbreeze says. “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.”
Payday 3 has failed to maintain a healthy player base since its release, so Starbreeze’s decision to pull back support for the shooter doesn’t come as a complete surprise, though it should be interesting to see what this means for the studio’s long-term plans for the game, and for the Payday franchise in general.
Payday 3 is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.