Disastrous Payday 3 launch sees players flock back to Payday 2 in droves

Payday 3’s player count has plummeted to all-new lows as Payday 2 sees a resurgence. The long-awaited sequel’s catastrophically poor launch has driven its player base back to its roots.

The second title in the franchise has eclipsed Payday 3’s concurrent player count. Payday 2’s peak sat just over 150 players shy of cracking 40,000 concurrents this week alone, according to SteamCharts.

Whereas Payday 3 only managed to garner 4,700 players logging on at one time. Payday 2’s all-time player peak also manages to cast a shadow over Payday 3 with the 2013 title sporting almost 200,000 more than its sequel counterpart. 

These numbers come after a series of blunders during Payday 3’s release. From matchmaking errors to glitches, the launch of the installment clearly didn’t go to plan for the developers.

During Payday 3’s first week, players were met with clogged servers. This led to gamers sitting in queues for hours, waiting for their chance to have a crack at the multiplayer, heist experience. 

These issues lingered well into a month after its official launch, despite Starbreeze releasing patches to combat Payday 3’s server issues. 

Payday 3’s player count dropped dramatically only a month after release, and a tsunami of poor reviews flooded Steam shortly after. Players complained about the lack of single-player features, alongside a myriad of criticisms involving lengthy challenges for those who made it onto servers.

As time has gone on, Payday 3’s Steam rating has increased. It currently sports a six out of 10 on Steam, with negative reviews still rolling in today. 

At least developers can take solace in the fact that despite being more than a decade old, Payday 2 manages to keep players coming back for more.