How do you observe up a recreation that’s been operating for 10 years? That’s a difficult plan that the builders at Starbreeze Studios must create and execute with Payday 3.
Launching on September 21, Payday 3 can have the robust process of following up its extremely profitable predecessor Payday 2, a bank-robbing multiplayer basic that’s been a staple on Steam since 2013. With a contemporary coat of paint and a transfer to the extra versatile Unreal Engine, it might sound like Starbreeze is poised to tug off the proper crime. But as with every heist, it’s by no means as simple because it sounds on paper. There’s a world of distinction between 2013 and 2023, particularly within the multiplayer panorama. It’s a much more aggressive scene; even video games by the largest studios on this planet discover themselves shutting down inside a yr. If Starbreeze was going to get its bag, it might want an ironclad plan — and it has one.
I acquired an inside take a look at Payday 3 forward of its launch, making an attempt out two heists within the upcoming PVE recreation. While it might not really feel too completely different than Payday 2, Starbreeze’s expertise crafting and supporting a 10-year juggernaut reveals in what’s shaping as much as be a extra polished heist sequel. Pulling that off wasn’t only a matter of doubling down on what labored, although. For Starbreeze, it was simply as a lot about studying from Payday 2’s errors.
Ocean’s Eleven
After a theatrical introduction to Payday 3’s in-person media occasion the place I grew to become an adjunct to a stay financial institution theft, I used to be in the best mindset to hold out some digital heists. Despite not having performed Payday 2 in years, I rapidly grew to become reacquainted with the fundamentals as I put collectively a loadout. After customizing a number of weapons and selecting perks from a large checklist of abilities, I used to be able to make some chilly exhausting money.
My first try didn’t precisely go easily. My crew would dive into a brand new heist referred to as 99 Boxes, which might have us sneaking right into a guarded facility and making an attempt to steal cash out of storage containers. When a teammate instantly alerted a guard to our presence inside 30 seconds, we needed to go in loud. Doing so rapidly gave me a really feel for Payday 3’s snappy gunplay as I mowed down waves of cops. In between these firefights, we’d have to make use of some navigation wits to search out our loot-loaded storage container utilizing any intel we may collect. Once we discovered it, two of my teammates would seize a bag of thermite and convey it again to burn the lock off — all whereas heading off the fuzz.
Deep Silver
If you’ve performed a Payday recreation earlier than, that form of Hollywood motion set piece most likely sounds acquainted. Teamwork was key as we’d cowl one another’s backs in a maze of storage containers, shopping for us extra time because the lock slowly burned. Once we acquired our money, all of it ended with a tense run again to our getaway automotive — a bloody escape plan that solely three of us would survive.
We’d get a extra basic Payday expertise in our second heist, the place we’d have to interrupt right into a New York City financial institution and extract duffle luggage full of money. Here, we’d get to strive a quieter method as we began by casing the joint to check its guards and safety digicam placements. Our first try would begin properly sufficient, as we’d sneak as much as the roof and quietly take out some guards to interrupt in. When we had been lastly noticed, we had no alternative however to take some hostages whereas we burned a gap into the financial institution’s vault from the ground above it.
My crew would return to that mission a number of instances throughout our session, making an attempt to good our plan with every try. By our final one, we discovered the place we’d have to go to close down the safety system, in addition to discover a number of extra helpful entrances that we may break into unnoticed. Payday 3’s missions beg to be replayed, pulling some immersive sim levers that decision video games like Hitman to thoughts. The heists right here are supposed to be mastered, rewarding groups who can plot and execute an Ocean’s Eleven-style plan.
Learning from errors
That iterative gameplay loop is a becoming metaphor for Payday 3’s precise growth. In an interview with Digital Trends on the occasion, Payday Global Brand Director Almir Listo was clear in explaining how Strabreeze architected the sequel. It would have a number of key benefits this time round, constructing off the 10-year success of Payday 2. Listo notes that the workforce is way more ready to create a long-running recreation this time, particularly because of a sturdier basis in Unreal Engine 4.
The present plan is for Starbreeze to as soon as once more create a shooter it could actually assist for 10 years. To try this, it’ll transfer its focus away from model collaborations initially and ship “proper post-launch” updates. That contains its upcoming Year of the Bad Apple replace, which is able to deliver 4 missions and a deliberate transfer to Unreal Engine 5. Listo notes that the rigorously deliberate roadmap is an indication that Starbreeze is extra ready this time round and received’t discover itself struggling to make content material because it’s stunned by its personal success because it was in 2013.
Deep Silver
That self-reflection was essential to Payday 3’s growth. In talking about what the workforce realized over the previous decade, Listo emphasizes that the workforce’s errors guided the sequel simply as a lot as its successes.
“In our industry, one of the key things developers tend not to do well is own up to our mistakes,” Listo tells Digital Trends. “You try to shove it under the rug. You need to treat your relationship with the community and players in the same vein you would a significant other: with truth, with respect, and with ambition that over time you can resolve anything together so long as you can build on that mutual relationship.”
When reflecting on what the workforce realized from Payday 2, Listo cites two particular incidents that formed the way forward for the sequence. Speaking about what he calls the “microtransaction scandal of 2015,” Listo explains the backlash that occurred after Strabreeze went again on its promise to by no means deliver extra monetization to the shooter. The studio took that blowback to coronary heart, studying extra about its gamers’ values within the course of.
“I said at the time of launch that we were never going to do this. Shame on you if you think otherwise! And then we did it!” Listo says. “The other thing that we learned is that even though it’s a PVE game, people will still be really mad if you can pay to boost your character. Even if we play on the same team, you want the same rules to apply to you as they do to me. We gamers have a very strong moral compass that we abide by when we play video games. And I think you really need to respect that and live up to that.”
It damage our repute and that’s one thing we’re seeking to get better from with Payday 3.
That isn’t the one remorse that Starbreeze has taken to coronary heart over time. Listo additionally cites the workforce’s choice to kill console assist as one other mistake that needed to be rectified for Payday 3.
“Having one community is a huge thing,” Listo says. “We stopped support for Payday 2 on consoles way back when. I think that hurt us tremendously. It hurt our reputation and that’s something we’re looking to recover from with Payday 3. Showing the console community that we do care, we do respect you equally with PC players. With Payday 3, it’s going to be one community no matter what platform you play on.”
Listening to the neighborhood
Throughout our dialog, neighborhood was a recurring theme for Listo. He made it clear that fan suggestions formed Payday 2 and had a direct affect on its sequel’s growth. When I requested him simply how essential neighborhood is to the Payday sequence, he recalled a stunning anecdote, during which a whole questline sprouted from an offhand fan remark.
“When we released Payday: The Heist, we had four characters: Dallas, Hoxton, Wolf, Chains,” Listo says. “But for Payday 2’s launch, we had removed Hoxton and added Houston, Dallas’ younger brother featuring Hoxton’s mask. The community was furious about that at launch. Where the frick is Hoxton, my favorite English boy!? And one dude on Reddit said ‘Maybe’s in jail.’ And we read that comment and said ‘… yeah, he’s in jail!’”
Deep Silver
Starbreeze would go on to create a whole suite of content material primarily based round that concept, retroactively confirming that Hoxton was certainly in jail all alongside and sending gamers on a mission to bust him out. It’s a narrative that maybe finest encapsulates why Payday 2 has remained a constant multiplayer hit whereas so many others have failed. Starbreeze understands the significance of listening to its neighborhood and reacting to it. It is aware of when to be versatile and ship significant content material its followers will care about.
While I had enjoyable taking part in a number of rounds of Payday 3, it’s my dialog with Listo that really leaves me within the shooter’s future. I get the sense that Starbreeze has cracked the key to stay service success like a well-locked vault. The studio is aware of when it’s time to take heed to its gamers, come clean with its errors, and make the adjustments its devoted neighborhood deserves. If it could actually proceed to try this with Payday 3, a multiplayer shooter with a extra trendy spine, I think about there’s quite a lot of gold in Strabreeze’s future.
Payday 3 launches on September 21 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.
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