During a livestream to celebrate Payday’s 10-year anniversary, Payday 3 game director Erik Wonnevi confirmed new details on the game (skip to the 3:03 mark in the video below). The sequel is set in New York City, a virtual world Starbreeze described as a “living, enormous representation of the city”. “One game changer: the media is now covering the gang, their exploits… and who knows what might come from that…” Starbreeze added. Payday 3 is set several years after the events of Payday 2, with the gang retired from their life of crime. “In the meantime,” Starbreeze said, “the world of Payday has transitioned into the digital age, with software giants, crypto currencies, mass surveillance and the Dark Web all playing a role in the gang’s new gadgets, challenges and opportunities.” We also have confirmation that Payday’s original four characters - Dallas, Hoxton, Chains and Wolf - return to a life of crime for Payday 3. The gang is forced back into a life of heisting, Wonnevi said. There’s still no gameplay, but we have a snapshot of the character models and a couple of pieces of environment art, below: In March, Starbreeze signed a €50m publishing deal with Koch Media for Payday 3, which is due out on PC, Xbox and PlayStation at some point in 2023 - 10 years after Payday 2 came out. The deal means Payday 3 is “fully financed”, Starbreeze said, with the investment paying for development, marketing as well as more than 18 months of post-launch “games as a service” content. Starbreeze remains the owner of the Payday IP. The funding marked a reversal in fortunes for Starbreeze, which almost went out of business in 2019 following the disastrous launch of Overkill’s The Walking Dead on Steam. The game flopped, causing severe financial issues and the acrimonious exit of boss Bo Andersson. For more, check out our in-depth feature, The fall of Starbreeze. But after a reorganisation, layoffs, the selling off of various publishing rights and a focus on co-op focused shooter Payday 2, Starbreeze started to sort itself out. Now, things are hotting up in the world of Payday. As Starbreeze works on Payday 3, it continues to update Payday 2, which remains one of Steam’s top games by concurrent players. And it’s about to launch a closed beta test of mobile game Payday Crime War.
