The catastrophic launch of “Payday 3” is also reflected in sales and player numbers five months later. However, the responsible development studio is not giving up.
After more than ten years, “Payday 3” was finally going to be the big successor that fans had wanted for so long. But things turned out differently. Massive server problems at launch and a small amount of content caused the shooter to crash in no time.
The efforts of developer Starbreeze, more heists and improvements to be published have not yet been fruitful. In the last investor meeting, the sobering conclusion was finally drawn.
Weak sales figures, few players
In the quarterly investor conference, developer Starbreeze Entertainment admitted that “Payday 3” failed to meet expectations. “Payday 3’s sales and player activity are currently significantly lower than we would like,” it says. Further improving the shooter is described as “the biggest focus and absolute priority”.
In fact, they show Steamcharts, that of the average 28,000 “Payday 3” players in September 2023, only 379 will remain. At the same time, the previous game “Payday 2” from 2013 currently has an average of 25,000 users.
Starbreeze is hoping for a comeback
At the moment it doesn’t seem as if the developers want to leave “Payday 3” to its own devices.
“There are many examples from the gaming industry where a troubled early period in the market has turned into long-term success,” the studio tells shareholders. “There is no easy recipe for this, but a common denominator among the positive examples is taking player criticism to heart, having the courage to support the game and having an open and honest dialogue with all stakeholders.”
Of course, examples such as space adventures exist in the gaming industry No Man’s Sky, which managed to turn things around. However, these are usually exceptional cases.
What can happen when a company wastes several years of development time and millions of euros was impressively demonstrated by the example of Daedelic. The release of the gameGollum“ dealt the company such a hard blow that the Hamburg-based company had to close its entire development department.
In the case of “Payday 3,” development is said to have cost at least $50 million. This compares to revenues of $45.5 million since September 2023, according to the new financial report. It remains to be seen whether Starbreeze will actually manage to turn the tide.
Those: gamedeveloper
Further news about PayDay 3.
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