Highlights
- Payday 3's launch has been chaotic and underwhelming, resulting in "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam.
- Matchmaking issues and constant server problems have made it difficult for players to join heists and play co-op.
- Players are requesting an offline mode to allow them to still play the game solo, but Starbreeze has not indicated plans for it yet.
Payday 3 has become one of the worst-rated games on Steam. There was great anticipation for the release of Payday 3, the new installment of the popular first-person shooter franchise. But what Payday fans saw was a chaotic and underwhelming launch.
Set a few years after the events of Payday 2, Payday 3 brings back Dallas, Chains, Wolf, Hoxton, and Joy, with Pearl as the newest addition to the crew. After living a crime-free franchise life, the gang's retirement comes to an end when a threat arises. This new threat makes the Payday gang leave their base in Washington and move to New York, where the events of Payday 3 take place. At launch, the game includes eight heists, and as before, each heist consists of different phases. To fulfill the objective of stealing as much as possible from a single location, players have a large arsenal of weapons to choose from and more intelligent AI units to face.
Payday 3 now has "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam. At the time of this writing, Payday 3 has 25,387 reviews, with 22,165 reviews being negative. Since launch, Payday 3 players have been experiencing matchmaking issues that prevent them from playing co-op or even solo. There are complaints about extended wait times to play. With the constant server problems and Payday 3's controversial always-online requirement, joining a heist has become an almost impossible task for players. Payday 3 has had many technical issues since early access, including faulty matchmaking.
In the days following launch, Starbreeze addressed the growing matchmaking problems and confirmed that the team was working to fix the functionality. The fixes were released but were short-lived as the Payday 3 servers faced more issues still waiting for a solution. With Payday 3's bad reception on Steam, Starbreeze's FPS has become one of the 100 worst-rated games on Valve's platform. The game ranks twenty-sixth on a list that includes the controversial Redfall from Arkane Studios, and other 2023 releases like Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, NBA 2K24, and Overwatch 2.
While lamenting the difficulties of playing Payday 3, one of the main requests from players is the inclusion of an offline mode. That way, even with the server and matchmaking problems, Payday 3 players could at least play the heists solo. Starbreeze has not indicated that it plans to introduce an offline mode, but it's still working to stabilize Payday 3's matchmaking. Payday 3 players can only hope that the devs will solve the growing pile of problems, so they can finally enjoy one of the most anticipated shooters of 2023.
Payday 3 is out now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Steam