Payday 3 is Still Getting Outdone by Its Own 13-Year-Old Predecessor

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 3, as Starbreeze Studios attempts to turn the game around.

Payday 3 launched back in 2023, but it hasn’t been smooth sailing for the title. On Steam, Payday 3 holds an overall rating of Mixed, and as of publication time, a 24-hour peak of just 384 concurrent players. The title’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’t been able to rise any higher since.

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Starbreeze Studios Reveals Its Financials

An official promo for Payday 3's Syntax Error heist DLC

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. Payday 3 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 Payday 2 reaching 50.1 million SEK ($5.6 million USD). However, Payday 2 came out on top when looking at the final quarter alone, seeing 14.8 million SEK ($1.6 million USD) versus Payday 3 only earning 8 million SEK ($880,000 USD). Payday 2 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 Payday 3 fell from 82.9 SEK ($9.1 million USD) in 2024 to 76.5 million SEK ($8.4 million USD) in 2025.

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These developments seem particularly problematic given Starbreeze’s move to acquire the publishing rights to Payday 3 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’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.

Fans of the Payday franchise and Starbreeze may already be aware that there have been unfortunate recent developments with the company. Starbreeze canceled its Dungeons & Dragons 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.

While anything is possible, it’s clear that thus far, Payday 2 is preferred over Payday 3. In addition to the reveals in the financial report, SteamDB indicates that Payday 2 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’s efforts, so far, Payday 3 hasn’t been able to come close to Payday 2‘s average numbers since its launch days. However, Starbreeze’s financial report says that the company is making “tangible progress” in improving upon the player experience of Payday 3, and that “strengthening trust with players… is a long-term effort.”

Meanwhile, Starbreeze partnered with Sidetrack Games near the end of 2025 to support Payday 2 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’ thoughts and preferences, which may help to steer the future of the franchise overall. Time will tell if Payday 3 is able to overcome its predecessor going forward, but Payday 2‘s proven it’s got staying power.