It seems that Payday 2 still has a lot more interest than Payday 3, which was released a year and a half ago.

Payday 3 got off to a rocky start in 2023, to put it mildly. We’ve seen examples of games recovering after that (No Man’s Sky, Cyberpunk 2077), but Starbreeze’s game has yet to do so. In fiscal year 2023, it generated $44.5 million in revenue, and in 2024, it generated just $7.7 million. The decline is understandable, but the scale of it is frightening. For comparison, Payday 2 made $3.9 million in fiscal year 2024. Despite being released ten years earlier than Payday 3, it still managed to do respectably well.

An article in Game Developer reported on the problems surrounding Starbreeze, drawing conclusions from financial reports that thoroughly outline how Payday 3’s performance can be described as decidedly poor. In the year of its release, sales were below target, and a year later the situation is similar. By 2024, Starbreeze (already financially devastated by Overkill’s The Walking Dead…) had posted a loss of $18.5 million.

Last year, Payday 3 received a major update, but its audience rating on Steam is still in the mid-range. In September, the game’s director left and Payday 3’s executive producer called the 2023 release a disaster, clarifying here that the developers were trying to catch up after the botched launch. Still, Starbreeze says there is reason for hope. Payday will also collaborate with PUBG and Roblox, and Payday 3 made an appearance on PlayStation Plus in February. With this, Starbreeze hopes that players will buy the subsequent DLC…

The situation for Payday 3 is not rosy, but Starbreeze is not giving up. However, if it continues to make so little money from sales, it won’t have much of a chance.

Source: PCGamer