After years of waiting, Payday fans finally have some new info on Payday 3. Publisher Starbreeze Studios and developer Overkill Software revealed some new details during the Payday 10th Anniversary livestream event.
Payday 3 will take place in a "living, enormous representation" of New York City, director Erik Wonnevi said. Payday 2 was primarily set in the boroughs of Washington, DC, while the original Payday was set in a fictional "Newport City" as well as Miami
Payday 3 will also take place several years after the events of Payday 2, bringing back characters like Dallas, Hoxton, Chains, and Wolf as they leave retirement and return to their criminal ways.
Technology has come a long way since Payday 2 released in 2013, and Starbreeze looks to be capitalizing on that fact for gameplay purposes. Software giants, cryptocurrency, mass surveillance, and even the dark web will all play some sort of role for the gang, such as updated gadgetry.
Concept art revealed during the presentation also shows a fictional New York bank named "Gold & Sharke Incorporated" that may serve as a mission location. Payday 3's characters can be seen casing the building with their masks on, as a few police officers patrol in the distance. A second image shows the climax of the group's heist, as armored SWAT swarms the bank's front steps and the gang fires from the top of the steps.
Starbreeze didn't show any actual gameplay or cinematics from Payday 3 during its event, but what we do know is that the game is being developed in Unreal Engine, as opposed to the previous games' Grin engine. Wonnevi emphasized that the new engine will allow players to step into the "living, breathing" fantasy of New York and see it "flip" into chaos and react accordingly to your decisions as a heist crew.
Payday 3 currently has a release window of 2022 – 2023, but that was announced back in 2019, so take it with a grain of salt.
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/getaway driver for IGN.