PAYDAY 3 Review: A Good Heist Shooter, So Why Is It Dying?

Our PAYDAY 3 review comes from playing Starbreeze's free weekend in November 2026, and the short version is simple: it's a good game. The heists are fun, the shooting feels right, and three years of updates have filled it out. But it's also easy to see why so many people talk about PAYDAY 3 as a dying game. We score it 7 out of 10.

PAYDAY 3 review at a glance

Is PAYDAY 3 good?

Yes. Strip away the history and PAYDAY 3 is a solid co-op heist shooter: plan your way in, go quiet for as long as you can, and hold on when the alarm goes off and the police pour in. Playing it during the free weekend, it was easy to see why the people still playing it love it. The core loop of masking up, grabbing the loot and fighting your way to the getaway is still a great time with a crew.

Why is PAYDAY 3 dying?

It isn't the heists. It's the history. PAYDAY 3 launched in September 2023 with serious online problems, and the anger at that start never fully went away. You can see it on Steam today: the game's overall user reviews are still Mixed, while reviews from the last 30 days are Mostly Positive (73%). Plenty of players who left early never came back to see the fixes.

Starbreeze has spent three years trying to win them back, and its own update list reads like a list of the original complaints:

• No more forced accounts: since Update 3.10 on October 26, new players no longer need to make a Starbreeze Nebula account with an email address. A "headless" account is created automatically.
• The CRIME.NET server browser is back, something long-time PAYDAY fans asked for.
• A new Campaign Mode, plus the Skills 2.0 and Armor 2.0 reworks.
• All the old paid DLC heists are now free.

Those are the right fixes, but they came late. That's the honest answer to why it feels like it's dying: a good game that lost its crowd early and is still fighting to get it back. In 2024 Starbreeze promised to keep updating it even if only one person was playing, and it has kept that promise so far.

Is PAYDAY 3 still being updated in 2026?

Yes. October brought Update 3.10 with the western-themed Guns Blazin' Crimebond (dual revolvers and dual shotguns arrive for the first time), the Feeding Frenzy heist and a hotfix three days later. Starbreeze's roadmap video covers plans for November and December, and a Double Infamy event ran alongside the free weekend to speed up levelling.

What's not so good?

• The reputation: a lot of the community made up its mind in 2023, and the overall Mixed rating still puts new players off.
• It needs a crew: it's built for co-op, so it's at its best when you can get friends together.
• Late fixes: the account change and server browser should have been there at launch.

Is PAYDAY 3 worth it in 2026?

If you have friends to heist with, yes, especially on sale. During the free weekend it was 70% off on Steam at $8.99 / £7.19 / €8.54 until November 9, and your free weekend progress carries over if you buy it. At its normal $29.99 / £23.99 / €28.49 it's still fair for a game with this much content. If you play alone and want a busy community, it's harder to recommend. See our free weekend guide for the times and what's included.

Watch PAYDAY 3

The official PAYDAY 3 Free Weekend video from the PAYDAY YouTube channel.

More PAYDAY on iGame Magazine

• PAYDAY 3 Is Free This Weekend: Start Times, Sale and Why Your Progress Carries Over: the November free weekend and sale
• Payday 3 Steam Reviews Reach Positive Milestone One Year Later!: how its Steam reviews recovered
• Payday 3 Updates Will Continue – Even with Just One Player, Says Dev: Starbreeze's promise to keep updating it

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