Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80.
In case there was any doubt, Starbreeze is not happy with how things are working out for Payday 3, the much-troubled heist-shooter that launched in September 2023. In its year-endfor 2023, CEO Tobias Sjögren said sales and player numbers are"at significantly lower levels than we would like," but it's not giving up on efforts to turn things around.
Sjögren said the Payday team would unveil its plans for changes to the game in February and sure enough, a few hours after the Starbreeze financials were released,was revealed. And it is big: The challenge-based progression system is being scrapped, matchmaking is being overhauled and a quickplay option added, developers are"looking into" bringing back a server browser, the UI is being overhauled, and—this is the big one—an offline mode is coming. Eventually.
The solo mode will be rolled out in two phases. Initially, solo players will be able to bypass the matchmaking queue but will still require an online connection for progression and unlocks; eventually, the dev team plans to make the game playable offline, with only occasional connections required to upload progression.
Starbreeze has also shelved the planned upgrade to Unreal Engine 5 so developers can focus on fixing the game instead, and DLC pricing is being"reviewed." The plan to release three DLCs is still on, and a new free heist is also in the works.