Payday 3 launched in September, but the release was marred with serious server issues. What impact those issues have had on the game are not totally clear. As part of publisher Starbreeze's latest earnings report, the company said the game performed ahead of expectations in terms of "initial" game sales. Starbreeze also said it has already made its money back off the game.

　　Starbreeze said Payday 3 has "reached recoup." That's not a big surprise, though, as the game was fully funded prior to launch thanks to a €50 million deal with Koch Media.

　　You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

　　Click To Unmute

　　State Of Gaming Handhelds In 2023

　　How Lies of P Cracked the Souls GenreLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Ichiban Kasuga Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Chitose Fujinomiya Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Kazuma Kiryu Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Saeko Mukoda Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Eric Tomizawa Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Joongi Han Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Tianyou Zhao Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Seonhee Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Koichi Adachi Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Yu Nanba Character Spotlight Trailer

　　Share

　　LinkEmbed

　　Size:640 × 360480 × 270

　　Start at: End at: Autoplay Loop

　　Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?

　　Sign up or Sign in now!

　　Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

　　This video has an invalid file format.

　　00:00:00

　　HTML5

　　Auto

　　Report a problem

　　Sorry, but you can't access this content!

Please enter your date of birth to view this video

　　By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's

　　Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

　　enter

　　Now Playing: Payday 3 Everything To Know

　　Koch Media owner Embracer, however, says Payday 3 did not live up to every expectation. CEO Lars Wingefors said during Embracer's earnings briefing that sales of Payday 3 out of the gate came in "a bit weaker than expected," according to VGC.

　　Neither Embracer nor Starbreeze have said what their specific sales expectations were for Payday 3. But Starbreeze said it recouped its development costs for Payday 3 on September 30, just nine days after the game launched on September 21.

　　In addition to being sold outright, Payday 3 launched into Xbox Game Pass, so unit-sales numbers represent just one piece of the crime game's total potential commercial audience.

　　Starbreeze acknowledged Payday 3's issues, saying the studio quickly realized that the game's servers were not holding up. These problems led to sales of Payday 3 being "somewhat lower" after those issues were addressed. However, Starbreeze said, "We are convinced that what we have in store will increase sales over time."

　　"I myself have often said that 'You are never better than your next game,' and the events of September and October have given reason for extensive analysis, investigation, and action," Starbreeze's Tobias Sjogren sad. "The team's focus is, and will continue to be, building Payday 3 according to plan and repairing the short-term drop in confidence that the launch entailed."

　　Looking ahead, Sjogren said Starbreeze has a "clear vision" for what Payday 3 can achieve over time through its live-service approach. Payday 3 has now transitioned from a "launch" phase to a "live-service" phase, which means the team is building out new features, improvements, and more content.

　　Payday 3's Steam player numbers are not exactly super strong, as more people are playing Payday 2 than Payday 3 on Steam right now.

　　Two new free heists are coming to Payday 3 this month, while the game is getting new first-person animations, weapons, skins, and other improvements in future patches. Starbreeze is developing four paid expansions for Payday 3, and the company said this represents only a "subset" of the post-launch content for Payday 3.

　　GameSpot's Payday 3 review scored the game a 6/10. Reviewer Alessandro Barbosa wrote, "Payday 3 features rich new challenges and satisfying stealth objectives to keep you entertained for some time."

　　The Biggest Game Releases Of November 2023

　　See More