‘Payday 3’ has been confirmed, but don’t expect it anytime soon

By Gabe Gurwin Published February 17, 2017

Swedish developer Starbreeze Studios, best known for its Payday series of crime-focused first-person shooters, has revealed that Payday 3 is officially in development. However, don’t expect to see the game anytime soon, as no release window was offered with the announcement.

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“It is with great satisfaction that we also can announce that Payday 3 production is officially initiated and at a full design stage. I’d like to especially clarify that this project will enjoy as much time as we deem needed,” Starbreeze CEO Bo Andersson Klint said in a year-end report. “This is our single most important brand today and the cornerstone of our business and we will treat is accordingly. Updates in the future might be scarce and far between. You simply don’t rush Payday 3.”

The emphasis on not rushing Payday 3 likely stems from the headaches Starbreeze endured following the console release of Payday 2 in 2015. The Xbox One version in particular was rife with matchmaking issues, making the game essentially unplayable. Fans still complained of problems going into the next year, and it currently sits at an abysmal 3.3 user score on Metacritic.

Starbreeze also clarified that Payday’s mobile spinoff, Payday: Crime War, is still in development, but production has moved to BadFly Interactive in addition to a new Starbreeze Barcelona studio. BadFly itself drew controversy earlier this year when it threatened to blacklist websites that gave its game Dead Effect 2 a poor review score.

Outside of traditional game development, Starbreeze also continues to experiment with virtual reality. A VR center in Los Angeles, made in partnership with IMAX, is underway, and will include John Wick Chronicles: Arcade Edition for players to try out. If all goes well, more location-based VR centers will pop up around the United States in the future. The studio has also entered the publishing space and is working with Double Fine to release the long-awaited Psychonauts 2.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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The best skills to research first in Payday 3

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Researching a skill is mostly passive, but you do need to select which skill you want to be working on at any time -- you can't research them all at once. If you don't pick one, the game will automatically apply research to the first skill in the list, which likely isn't going to be what you want. To choose which skill you want to research, just highlight it in the skill menu and choose "Research" to mark it as the skill your points will go toward.

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Is Payday 3 cross-platform?

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The PayDay series made a name for itself among the other contemporary co-op shooters of the time by putting players in the role of criminals attempting to pull off various heists. Each game in the series has upped the ante on more creative and fun places to burgle, break into, and extort for the titular payday. The latest entry, PayDay 3, offers plenty of new content as expected, but retains that core formula of teaming up with friends to coordinate the perfect job. However, it has been many years since the last entry so this will be the first exposure to the series for many players. With the game being available on all platforms, and even included at launch on Game Pass, you may want to stake out this article to learn if PayDay 3 supports cross-play.
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