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Payday 3 devs explain controversial always-online requirement amid rocky launch

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Men with masks hold guns in Payday 3.
Deep Silver

Payday 3‘s life isn’t off to a great start following a rocky launch that has players demanding an offline mode for the always-online game. The pressure on developer Starbreeze Studios is mounting after a rocky weekend of server issues and matchmaking woes.

Red flags began to rise days before Payday 3‘s official launch on September 21. Those who preordered the Silver or Gold editions of the game were granted early access to the co-op game on September 18, but the sneak peek didn’t go off smoothly. PS5 owners couldn’t log in for a full day, nor could they access any special items that came with the preorder bundle. While the former was fixed, Starbreeze announced that those goodies wouldn’t be accessible until October 5.

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The official launch didn’t improve the situation, as the shooter’s maiden weekend was full of issues. The problems started with an authentication bug, but slow matchmaking wound up being an issue. Starbreeze would gradually start to resolve those issues on September 22 before seeing a total outage of its matchmaking service. That issue would temporarily clear up before going haywire again on September 24.

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Heisters, we're currently seeing signs of an emerging issue with the matchmaking services in PAYDAY 3. The team is investigating.

— PAYDAY 3 (@PAYDAYGame) September 24, 2023

Starbreeze now finds itself running damage control as it tries to stabilize the game, going as far as to host a live discussion on the state of the game with fans on Twitch. Payday 3 is currently rated Mostly Negative on Steam with over 25,000 reviews.

While some fans on social media have urged patience, others haven’t been as understanding. Payday 3‘s posts on X (formerly Twitter) are flooded with replies begging for an offline mode. At present, a constant connection is required to do anything, including customizing a character or even watching story cinematics. That’s left some fans confused, as it’s possible to play Payday 3 solo with computer-controlled players. An offline mode has become a popular request to support solo players.

At the moment, Starbreeze says it can’t give a yes or no answer on the topic. In a developer livestream, Global Brand Director Almir Listo explained that online-only was implemented in order to make sure that all players were on the same version of the game, avoiding issues the team experienced running Payday 2. Listo says the team’s priority at present is on fixing immediate server issues and that the team isn’t discussing plans for an offline mode for now.

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Giovanni Colantonio
Giovanni Colantonio
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