{"id":29951,"date":"2026-02-20T12:27:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=29951"},"modified":"2026-02-20T12:27:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:27:34","slug":"payday-3-is-still-getting-outdone-by-its-own-13-year-old-predecessor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=29951","title":{"rendered":"Payday 3 is Still Getting Outdone by Its Own 13-Year-Old Predecessor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A new financial report indicates that <em><strong>Payday 3<\/strong><\/em> is still being outdone by its predecessor, <em>Payday 2<\/em>. The numbers may not bode well for <em>Payday 3<\/em>, as Starbreeze Studios attempts to turn the game around.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><\/p>\n<p><em>Payday 3<\/em> launched back in 2023, but it hasn&#8217;t been smooth sailing for the title. On Steam, <em>Payday 3<\/em> holds an overall rating of Mixed, and as of publication time, a 24-hour peak of just 384 concurrent players. The title&#8217;s all-time peak on Steam was just shy of 78,000, which it achieved at launch in September 2023. By November, that number had plunged to just over 5,000, and it hasn&#8217;t been able to rise any higher since.<\/p>\n<div class=\"display-card  article article-card small  no-badge  active-content                      \" data-include-community-rating=\"false\" id=\"pubg-blindspot-mixed-reviews-steam\" data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/wm\/2026\/02\/pubg-blindspot-agents-gamerant.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=140&amp;h=98&amp;dpr=2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/wm\/2026\/02\/pubg-blindspot-agents-gamerant.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=140&amp;h=98&amp;dpr=2\"\/><img width=\"440\" height=\"364\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"pubg blindspot debuts to mixed reviews on steam.\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/wm\/2026\/02\/pubg-blindspot-agents-gamerant.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=220&amp;h=182&amp;dpr=2\" src=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/wm\/2026\/02\/pubg-blindspot-agents-gamerant.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=220&amp;h=182&amp;dpr=2\"\/>\n        <\/picture>\n<p>                    <span data-field=\"label\" class=\"article-card-label\"><label>Related<\/label><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"w-display-card-content regular article-block\">\n<h5 class=\"display-card-title \">\n<p>\t\t\tKrafton&#8217;s New PUBG Game Already Has Mixed Reviews on Steam<\/p>\n<\/h5>\n<p class=\"display-card-excerpt\">A new free-to-play PUBG: Battlegrounds spin-off just hit Steam, and user reviews suggest publisher Krafton could be in trouble.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"starbreeze-studios-reveals-its-financials\">\n                        Starbreeze Studios Reveals Its Financials<br \/>\n               <\/h2>\n<div class=\"body-img landscape mobile-optimized\">\n<div class=\"responsive-img  image-expandable  img-article-item\" style=\"padding-bottom:50%\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/payday-3-syntax-error-heist.jpg\" data-modal-id=\"single-image-modal\" data-modal-container-id=\"single-image-modal-container\" data-img-caption=\"&quot;&quot;\">\n                                                                                            <picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/payday-3-syntax-error-heist.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=500&amp;dpr=2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/payday-3-syntax-error-heist.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=500&amp;dpr=2\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/payday-3-syntax-error-heist.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=800&amp;dpr=2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/payday-3-syntax-error-heist.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=800&amp;dpr=2\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 1023px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/payday-3-syntax-error-heist.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=825&amp;dpr=2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/payday-3-syntax-error-heist.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=825&amp;dpr=2\"\/><img width=\"1650\" height=\"826\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"An official promo for Payday 3's Syntax Error heist DLC\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/payday-3-syntax-error-heist.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=825&amp;dpr=2\" src=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/payday-3-syntax-error-heist.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=825&amp;dpr=2\"\/>\n        <\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In an investor report, Starbreeze laid out its wins and losses, as well as its specific financials over the course of the year and final quarter. <em>Payday 3<\/em> was able to come out on top for the full year of 2025, seeing 76.5 million SEK ($8.4 million USD) in sales versus <em>Payday 2<\/em> reaching 50.1 million SEK ($5.6 million USD). However, <em>Payday 2<\/em> came out on top when looking at the final quarter alone, seeing 14.8 million SEK ($1.6 million USD) versus <em>Payday 3<\/em> only earning 8 million SEK ($880,000 USD). <em>Payday 2<\/em> also experienced growth when compared year-by-year, with it seeing an increase from 41.8 million SEK ($4.6 million USD) in 2024 to 50.1 million SEK ($5.6 million USD) in 2025, whereas <em>Payday 3<\/em> fell from 82.9 SEK ($9.1 million USD) in 2024 to 76.5 million SEK ($8.4 million USD) in 2025. <\/p>\n<div class=\"w-display-card-vignette\">\n<div id=\"ro\" class=\"is-start\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"stage\" id=\"stage\">\n      <!-- START --><\/p>\n<section class=\"panel start-panel is-active\" id=\"panelStart\" aria-hidden=\"false\">\n<div class=\"startCard\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"start-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/chronologic-logo-color-dark2x.png\" alt=\"Chronologic\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"subtitle\">\n            Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            <span class=\"selectWrap\"><br \/>\n              <select id=\"difficultyStart\" class=\"pillselect\" aria-label=\"Difficulty\"><option value=\"5\">Easy (5)<\/option><option value=\"7\" selected=\"selected\">Medium (7)<\/option><option value=\"10\">Hard (10)<\/option><\/select><br \/>\n            <\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <button class=\"pillbtn start\" id=\"startBtn\" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n              Start<br \/>\n            <\/button>\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>      <!-- GAME --><\/p>\n<section class=\"panel game-panel\" id=\"panelGame\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<\/section>\n<p>      <!-- RESULTS --><\/p>\n<section class=\"panel results-panel\" id=\"panelResults\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <!-- floating ghost for pointer dragging --><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"is-start\" id=\"ro\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"stage\" id=\"stage\"><!-- START --><\/p>\n<section aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"panel start-panel is-active\" id=\"panelStart\">\n<div class=\"startCard\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Chronologic\" class=\"start-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/chronologic-logo-color-dark2x.png\"\/><br \/>\nRearrange the covers into the correct US release order.<\/p>\n<p><span>Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)<\/span><button class=\"pillbtn start\" id=\"startBtn\" type=\"button\">Start<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- GAME --><\/p>\n<section aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"panel game-panel\" id=\"panelGame\">\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- RESULTS --><\/p>\n<section aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"panel results-panel\" id=\"panelResults\">\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- floating ghost for pointer dragging --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>These developments seem particularly problematic given Starbreeze&#8217;s move to acquire the publishing rights to <em>Payday 3<\/em> in mid-2025. The move was made with the intention to accelerate content development, among other things, with the game seeing major releases like the Party Powder heist in May, and the Skills 2.0 overhaul launching in December. Earlier the same year, the game also launched on PS Plus, which likely introduced new players to the franchise. For the overall company earnings, net sales were up year over year, with Starbreeze seeing 221 million SEK ($24.3 million USD) in sales in 2025 compared to 2024&#8217;s 186 million SEK ($20.4 million USD). However, its net losses were also up, with a net loss of 402.7 million SEK ($44.3M USD) in 2025, whereas 2024 only saw 317.7 million SEK ($34.9M USD) in losses.<\/p>\n<p>Fans of the <em>Payday<\/em> franchise and Starbreeze may already be aware that there have been unfortunate recent developments with the company. Starbreeze canceled its <em>Dungeons &amp; Dragons<\/em> game, referred to as Project Baxter, which had been announced back in 2023. Starbreeze also saw layoffs following the announcement, and more layoffs followed in early 2026. <\/p>\n<p>While anything is possible, it&#8217;s clear that thus far, <em>Payday 2<\/em> is preferred over <em>Payday 3<\/em>. In addition to the reveals in the financial report, SteamDB indicates that <em>Payday 2<\/em> is still seeing tens of thousands of concurrent players per day. While the game has fallen substantially in playercount since its peak of nearly 250,000 players eight years ago, a 24-hour peak of over 25,000 players is nothing to scoff at for a 13-year-old game. Despite Starbreeze&#8217;s efforts, so far, <em>Payday 3<\/em> hasn&#8217;t been able to come close to <em>Payday 2<\/em>&#8216;s average numbers since its launch days. However, Starbreeze&#8217;s financial report says that the company is making &#8220;tangible progress&#8221; in improving upon the player experience of <em>Payday 3<\/em>, and that &#8220;strengthening trust with players&#8230; is a long-term effort.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Starbreeze partnered with Sidetrack Games near the end of 2025 to support <em>Payday 2<\/em> on PC, ensuring the game continues to receive quality-of-life improvements and patches. A player survey was hosted earlier in February, asking for players&#8217; thoughts and preferences, which may help to steer the future of the franchise overall. Time will tell if <em>Payday 3<\/em> is able to overcome its predecessor going forward, but <em>Payday 2<\/em>&#8216;s proven it&#8217;s got staying power.<\/p>\n<div class=\"display-card type-video-game large\" data-show-streamrentbuy-links=\"true\" data-include-community-rating=\"true\" id=\"e711-4e99-8f8d52c4d6e4\">\n<div class=\"display-card-main-content-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"display-card-main-content\">\n<div class=\"display-card-content image-column\">\n<p>                        <!--    Rating block community and brand ratings --><br \/>\n                        <!--  Image --><\/p>\n<div class=\"w-img \" data-stnl-group-once=\"mssgooQJzb\">\n<div class=\"body-img portrait \">\n<div class=\"responsive-img  img-article-square\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-25-dec-2024-02-30-pm-3737.jpg\" data-modal-id=\"single-image-modal\" data-modal-container-id=\"single-image-modal-container\" data-img-caption=\"&quot;&quot;\">\n                                                                                                                                                            <picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-25-dec-2024-02-30-pm-3737.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=300&amp;dpr=2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-25-dec-2024-02-30-pm-3737.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=300&amp;dpr=2\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-25-dec-2024-02-30-pm-3737.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=400&amp;dpr=2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-25-dec-2024-02-30-pm-3737.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=400&amp;dpr=2\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 1023px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-25-dec-2024-02-30-pm-3737.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=320&amp;dpr=2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-25-dec-2024-02-30-pm-3737.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=320&amp;dpr=2\"\/><img width=\"960\" height=\"1440\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Payday 3 Tag Page Cover Art\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-25-dec-2024-02-30-pm-3737.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=480&amp;dpr=2\" src=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-25-dec-2024-02-30-pm-3737.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=480&amp;dpr=2\"\/>\n        <\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                        <!-- User Rating widget --><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"display-card-content info-column\">\n<p>                        <!--  Display card community and brand rating widget --><br \/>\n                                                                         <!--  Display card open critics widget --><\/p>\n<p>                                        <!--  Display card main info widget --><\/p>\n<div class=\"w-display-card-info main-info\">\n<dl>\n<p><dt>\n                                            <strong>Released<\/strong>\n                                        <\/dt>\n<dd>\n                                            <span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 21, 2023<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n                                        <\/dd>\n<\/p>\n<p><dt>\n                                            <strong>ESRB<\/strong>\n                                        <\/dt>\n<dd>\n                                            <span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tM For Mature 17+ \/\/ Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/span>\n                                        <\/dd>\n<\/p>\n<\/dl><\/div>\n<p>                                        <!--  Display card main info widget end --><\/p>\n<p>                    <!--  Display card media widget start --><\/p>\n<p>                                        <!--  Display card media widget end --><\/p>\n<p>                    <!-- Where to play button preview --><\/p>\n<p>                    <!-- Where to play preview end --><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <!-- Extra content section, display hidden by default --><br \/>\n            <input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"extra-content-e711-4e99-8f8d52c4d6e4\" name=\"extra-content-e711-4e99-8f8d52c4d6e4\" class=\"expand-extra-info-checkbox css-menu-checkbox\"\/> <!-- Checkbox: control the expandable behavior  of the extra info --><\/p>\n<p>            <!-- Display card footer --><\/p>\n<p>            <!-- PROS and CONS section --><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Source: SteamDB (1), (2)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/gamerant.com\/payday-2-revenue-higher-than-3-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new financial report indicates that Payday 3 is still being outdone by its predecessor, Payday 2. The numbers may not bode well for Payday&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[15206,16034,5974,16035],"class_list":["post-29951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-13yearold","tag-outdone","tag-payday","tag-predecessor","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}