PAYDAY 3

PAYDAY 3 is a cooperative first-person heist shooter from Starbreeze Studios and the direct successor to PAYDAY 2. The PAYDAY gang comes out of retirement and pulls new heists in New York. Every job can in principle be approached quietly or loudly: those who stay undetected manipulate cameras, control civilians and move as inconspicuously as possible toward the target. After an alarm, the same job becomes a firefight against police, SWAT and special units.

The core is designed around teamwork. Up to four players combine roles, weapons, skills and gear, but can also play the heists with AI companions. Starbreeze has continuously developed PAYDAY 3 since launch and in 2026 fundamentally reworked, among other things, the technical foundation and the structure of the heist content.

PAYDAY 3 was released on Sep 21, 2023 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. In Aug 2026, the game switched to Unreal Engine 5 with update 3.8. On Sep 22, 2026, the Anniversary Update 3.9 followed, with a rebuilt campaign, weapon perks, a shooting range, reworked enemies and other system changes.

The most important structural change concerns the heists themselves: all heists that were previously paid are part of the base game since update 3.9. Future heists are also meant to be playable without a separate mission purchase. The separate heist DLCs were removed from stores on Aug 25, 2026.

PAYDAY 3 is available natively for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. There is no separate PS4 or Xbox One version. On Xbox, the game is optimized for Series X|S and supports Xbox Play Anywhere. The PlayStation version is listed as a native PS5 version.

Every heist starts with planning and allows different routes to the goal. In the stealth game, the aim is to control cameras, guards and civilians, find entry points and secure loot without triggering full escalation. If the crew is spotted, the job switches to a more shooter-focused firefight with waves of police and special units.

Weapons, mods, skills and gear determine your role within the crew. PAYDAY 3 is built around online co-op with up to four players, but you can also play alone with AI teammates. The ongoing updates have, among other things, restructured skills, armor, OVERKILL weapons, contracts, the HEAT meter and several older heists.

Since Update 3.9, all previous heists are part of the base game; future heists are also not meant to be sold as separate mission DLCs. The heists that were previously paid – Syntax Error, Boys in Blue, Houston Breakout, Fear & Greed, Party Powder, Delivery Charge and Shopping Spree – were already removed from individual sale on Aug 25, 2026.

Optional extra content will still remain. Weapon Packs, Tailor Packs, Character Packs and the new Crimebonds can continue to be sold separately. The first of these new content building blocks is the Brute Force Crimebond, released on Sep 22, 2026. Its most striking tool is the portable saw OVE9050, which can cut through locked doors and lockers, among other things.

Some Crimebond items can, according to Starbreeze, also be temporarily “stolen” with Renown without buying them. If you buy the Crimebond later, you get back the Renown you used for it.

On PC, PAYDAY 3 requires at least Windows 10, an Intel Core i5-9400F, 16 GB RAM, a GeForce GTX 1650 with 4 GB or Radeon RX 580 with 4 GB, and 45 GB of free storage. Recommended are Windows 11, an Intel Core i7-9700K, 16 GB RAM and a GeForce GTX 1080 with 8 GB or Radeon RX Vega 56.