The Payday series celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and Starbreeze and developer Overkill are going big to celebrate the milestone with a docu-series, an in-game event in Payday 2, and the soft-launch of Payday Crime War this year.
The series had humble origins, and few could have predicted what a gigantic success the heisting series would go on to become--Payday 2, for example, has reached a whopping 35 million installs and remains one of Steam's most popular games.
Payday: The Heist was originally known as Stone Cold, and Overkill was planning to show the game for the first time at E3 2011 until publisher Sony Online Entertainment said the name needed to change due to a clash with the WWE wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin. For a company that was bankrupt before this, it was tough news, but the team found a new name--Payday!--and had a successful showing and launch in 2011. But that was just the beginning.
Payday 2 released in 2013 and elevated the series further, succeeding not only critically, but also commercially. The game was so successful that it helped Starbreeze out of a tricky financial situation and into a new level of commercial success. The game partnered with Lionsgate for a John Wick DLC event, positioning it as a mainstream hit. Another element to Payday 2's ongoing success is Overkill's commitment to supporting the game--by the latest count, the studio released more than 210 updates for the game to keep things fresh and interesting.
With the franchise celebrating its 10th anniversary, and ahead of a big livestream event planned for this Friday, October 22, GameSpot spoke with Starbreeze global brand director Almir Listo about the past 10 years of Payday and what's to come. In the interview, Listo talks about why Payday has been able to remain successful and relevant for so long, shares some of his favorite stories from the past decade, and talks about the future.
Payday 3 is in the works for release in 2023 through a partnership with Koch Media's Prime Matter. It's still too early to talk about specifics, Listo says, but he promised that Payday 3 represents a "leap forward for the franchise and a new baseline for what Payday is and what it can be in the future."
You can read the full interview below.
10 years is a long time and Payday is still thriving today. What about Payday do you think has allowed the series to endure and thrive for so long?
Payday turning 10 is such a joyous occasion for us that we’ve planned ten days to celebrate. We’ve been fortunate to see Payday come as far as it has today. I think the main driver is two things: The developer, us behind the game, the features we’ve added (and removed!) over the years to keep the game relevant for our players, the heisters out there. Since 2013 we’ve made more than 210 updates to the game! The other is the community - they’ve shared this decade long journey with us, some have been with us since the beginning, their input directly influencing the game and the content we make. When you put the two together, you get Payday.
Back in 2011 when Payday: The Heist was released on Steam and the PlayStation Store, we had managed to gather a small following, but it was a dedicated one. I remember us developers sitting together going through the SPUF forums (Steam’s community hub discussions at the time) in early 2012 a few months after Payday: The Heist released, reading the feedback on the game, interacting with the players who had just recently found their way to a life of crime. The Payday SPUF community set the base for what would later become the largest community group on Steam (7,626,022 members and counting), which has been instrumental in keeping in touch with our community, making Payday what it is today.
"This year, the franchise turns 10, but the game industry as a whole also experienced ten years of change. The landscape today is different from what it was then, and that is reflected in Payday too." -- Almir Listo
Another good example of how we work with our community was the addition of Hoxton as a playable character in Payday 2 - it was an effort by the community! Hoxton was in the first game but in the sequel he was mysteriously replaced by Houston, Dallas’ younger brother. Unbeknownst to the players, this was a production issue, not a creative call. Right from the outset players started rallying together, creating petitions to get him back into the game.
As we continued updating the game after launch with new content, we asked ourselves: “Why not make a proper community event out of this?” Get the heisters to break Hoxton out himself, and when you’ve done it - he’s back in the gang, for free. He came with a new skill tree, that we called Fugitive, and his new mask, since Houston had taken his old one. Players got to unravel the story themselves and break out one of their favorite characters so he could rejoin the gang. I think the story of Hoxton really showcases how closely we listen to our community, and how much they can influence us at times. If we can make it into a cool event, then we’ll try.
We’ve kept events like this up all the way to the present day, one of my favorites being April Fool’s! Who can forget “spoonfest”, this year’s little April Fools Day prank that turned into a massive community rally? It all began last year when RussianBadger and his friends played PAYDAY 2 and started joking about how fun it would have been if we added a comically large spoon to the game (based on this meme).
Time went by and more community members started asking “Comically large spoon when?” Come April 1st a few months later, we pranked them through a trailer, and presented them with a comically large… fork. Needless to say, some heisters lost their minds, but it was only in jest, as we had prepared a community-wide event if fans retired 5 million law enforcers, they would receive a comically large golden spoon. 35 short hours later, the community achieved this, unlocking the spoon for all. We had a lot of fun as developers working on this, and I think the community had a blast too.
Going back to the beginning, when you set out to make Payday when it was originally called Stone Cold, did you ever imagine you'd be here 10 years later with one of the most successful PC games out there?
As a developer, you always hope for success, but you’re also always aware that any game you work on doesn’t necessarily reach the public. A lot of games being made in our industry never see the light of day for various reasons. Back then, our focus was to create a game that was ours to keep, not just something that we’d let go as soon as it was released... enter Payday. With the first game, Payday: The Heist, we managed to get a foot in the door, and with its sequel Payday 2, we were going to break it down completely.
Almir Listo is the global brand director for Payday at StarbreezeThis year, the franchise turns 10, but the game industry as a whole also experienced ten years of change. The landscape today is different from what it was then, and that is reflected in Payday too. We’re thankful for the success of the game, because it stands in direct relation to our players supporting us. Without them, we’d be toast!
What would you say is at the “core” of Payday? What is it that defines the experience and makes it so compelling?