Payday 3 on “life support” as players struggle to find a game
Starbreeze StudioPayday 3’s dwindling player count appears to be making it extremely difficult for players to find a game, leaving many to question if the game is already “dead.”
When Payday 3 launched on September 21, the game faced immediate backlash due to technical issues that left the game nearly unplayable for many players. Server and matchmaking issues paired with a controversial online-only requirement frustrated many players and sank the game to a “Mostly Negative” score on Steam not long after release.
Despite an initial surge in player count, reaching 69,112 peak Steam users during the launch weekend, Payday 3 has since witnessed a significant decline, managing a peak player count of just 1,595 in the last seven days.
Remarkably, the game’s predecessor, which was released more than ten years ago, reached a peak player count of 46,138 in the last seven days. These player count stats, combined with the difficulty of finding others to play with, have left many to wonder if Payday 3 is “dead” already.
One frustrated player took to Reddit to share their experience shortly after purchasing the game, “I just bought the game and barely able to find a match.”
That sentiment echoes across the community as many players report that it’s increasingly difficult to find other players and engage in the cooperative gameplay that defines the series.
Upon asking if Payday 3 is already “dead,” the community responded by shutting down that idea but suggesting that it’s fairly close to it.
“It’s not dead, but it’s certainly on life support,” one player shared. “A LOT of people bounced since the game was virtually unplayable for the first week or two, with matchmaking errors every other game if not every game.”
Another player, hopeful for a revival, added, “It’s fairly dead, yes. I expect it to populate again with the 2 new heists and progression update dropping soon, however.”
“This game burned the majority of its good faith from the horrendous launch. It will be a long road to a comeback, if it ever does, as there’s still a lot lacking in terms of pure fun factor when compared to Payday 2.”
Payday 3 developers Starbreeze Studios have announced that the next update will arrive before the end of November. It remains to be seen whether this update can bring back fans of the series who have seemingly already dropped back to Payday 2.
