Payday 3's Launch Was So Bad, The Developer Is Apologizing
"Payday 3" has been a highly anticipated title ever since it was first announced way back in 2016. For a while, it was unclear if the co-op action/heist game was still going to come out, due to a handful of legal and financial issues at developer Starbreeze Studios. At long last, "Payday 3" arrived this month. Unfortunately, the title's rollout was accompanied by multiple problems, including server glitches that have made matchmaking essentially impossible for some players. Other players have found themselves waiting in ridiculously long server queues just to play single-player missions. The developers have been working around the clock over the last few days, attempting to stabilize servers and help players join up to do some bad deeds, but the issues have persisted.
We have deployed some fixes, but we're still seeing instability in the matchmaking. We're continuing investigation and will keep working on addressing this.
— PAYDAY 3 (@PAYDAYGame) September 22, 2023
On top of that, many players who joined up for the game's early access period — which kicked off three days prior to the full launch — found that they were unable to play at all. For reasons that are still somewhat unclear, despite paying extra by purchasing the Silver or Gold Editions of "Payday 3," PlayStation fans were not able to connect to servers. At the time, series producer Andreas Häll Penninger insinuated that Sony had not put out the proper day-one patch, and promised that no further issues would ensue.
Update to Ps5 players: Sony has now rolled out the correct patch. We apologize for putting a delay on your criminal aspirations. We'll work on ensuring this does not happen again https://t.co/EyNFITwoOc
— Andreas Häll Penninger (@PAYDAD_) September 19, 2023
In the aftermath of this underwhelming launch, some fans have said that "Payday 3" is a prime argument against designing games to be online-only. At this time, Reddit and X (formerly known as Twitter) are still ablaze with gamers complaining about long wait times and matchmaking failures. In light of the game's problematic debut, the CEO of Starbreeze Studios has issued an apology.
Starbreeze CEO apologizes for Payday 3's launch
This is obviously not the launch that "Payday" fans nor Starbreeze Studios had hoped for, particularly when one considers that it's been a decade since the launch of "Payday 2." Taking to X, Starbreeze CEO Tobias Sjögren wrote, "We are so sorry that the infrastructure didn't hold up as expected, and although it's impossible to prepare for every scenario – we should be able to do better. We work tirelessly until we have restored all services and our players can get back to heisting again without issues!"
We are so sorry that the infrastructure didn't hold up as expected, and although it's impossible to prepare for every scenario – we should be able to do better. We work tirelessly until we have restored all services and our players can get back to heisting again without issues!
— Tobias Sjögren (@tobiassjogren) September 22, 2023
The responses to this post from gamers have been mixed, with some praising Sjögren and Starbreeze for their open communication and others doubling down on slamming the game's current state. Some have even accused Starbreeze and Deep Silver of releasing "Payday 3" with full awareness of the server infrastructure problems. While many fans are still on board to play more "Payday 3" if and when the server fixes are made, the game's release seems to have left just as many with a sour taste in their mouths. But hey, at least it's better than "Crime Boss: Rockay City," right?