Payday 3 has not had the smoothest of launches, with PCG's Tyler Colp finding some positives in the latest instalment of Starbreeze's heist-em-up, but concluding that much of it "needs a rework." Players were similarly unimpressed with elements like the progression system, the always-online requirement combined with matchmaking woes, various stability issues and then the cherry on top: a "critical error in our backend" that delayed the release of the first patches considerably.
The upshot? Over 36,000 "Mixed" Steam reviews, only 40% of which are positive, and a playerbase that looks like a fraction of what Payday 2 had going. At the time of writing just under 30,000 people are playing Payday 2, while 605 are playing Payday 3. Starbreeze is in trouble with this game and seems to have been caught completely off-guard by the sheer negativity of the reaction. It's one of those things where players who love Payday 2 really love Payday 2, so the sequel's issues are seen by some as almost an affront.
