Payday 3 coming by 2023, Starbreeze says

Starbreeze Studios says it expects to release its next full Payday game by 2023. But it may come sooner than that, according to a financial release from the Swedish developer, which pencils in a 2022-2023 release window for Payday 3.

As part of ongoing restructuring at the studio, Starbreeze outlined its estimated cash flow for the next four years. Starbreeze said it expects to finalize a publishing agreement for Payday 3 in the first half of 2020 and secure financing to develop the game. Starbreeze said it expects the same arrangement for continued development of Payday: Crime War, the mobile version of its heist-themed shooter series.

Starbreeze previously said that Payday 3 was already in production years ago. In 2017, studio CEO Bo Andersson Klint said, “It is with great satisfaction that we also can announce that Payday 3 production is officially initiated and at a full design stage.” But Klint stressed patience: “It will be done when it’s done. ... You simply don’t rush Payday 3.”

The previous game in the series, Payday 2, was initially released in 2013 on PlayStation 3, Windows PC, and Xbox 360. The game has since been ported to Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with the most recent version, for Nintendo Switch, arriving in February 2018.

In December 2018, Starbreeze Studios filed for restructuring amid a financial downturn for the company. In its press release on Friday, Starbreeze said “reconstruction work is continuing and the company intends to present a reconstruction plan shortly.” Starbreeze also notes that its financial plan is “not a forecast, but merely a cash flow estimate to enable creditors to form an opinion about the future repayment ability of Starbreeze.”