Payday 3 is coming but it's still "years away" from release

Payday 3 is real, it's in development, and it has a prospective release window.

All of that needed to be clarified because Payday developer Starbreeze has had a difficult few years, staring down the barrel of bankruptcy before securing Koch Media as the publisher of the long-awaited sequel to 2013's Payday 2.

"At Starbreeze, we see PayDay as the ultimate bank robbing experience. Inspired by classic heist movies, providing adrenaline-fuelled gameplay where you get to experience the thrill of being on the wrong side of the law with a master plan and a gun in your hand," says Almir Listo, global brand director. "Our ever growing player community, our heisters, continues to be an inspiration in whatever we do, helping to make the best Payday possible."

While Starbreeze was unable to share many more details about Payday 3, it has confirmed that the co-op shooter is still "years away" as it targets a 2023 release date. Erik Wonnevi, game director, also says that the sequel will honor the legacy of Payday 2, expanding on the "ongoing narrative that has been created over the years".

A representative from Prime Matter, the new premium gaming label created by Koch to publish its portfolio of upcoming games, also teased that Payday 3 "utilizes new technology to create a fully-fledged social heist universe." We'll likely have to wait a little longer to see how that materializes.

For now, let's just be happy that Payday 3 is real and coming in 2023 for PC and unspecified consoles, a co-op centric multiplayer game that will let us live out our twisted fantasy of being a world class career criminal.

For more on this week's announcements, be sure to check out our E3 2021 guide.

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Josh West is Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar+. He has over 18 years of experience in both online and print journalism, and was awarded a BA (Hons) in Journalism and Feature Writing. Josh has contributed to world-leading gaming, entertainment, tech, music, and comics brands, including games™, Edge, Retro Gamer, SFX, 3D Artist, Metal Hammer, and Newsarama. In addition, Josh has edited and written books for Hachette and Scholastic, and worked across the Future Games Show as an Assistant Producer. He specializes in video games and entertainment coverage, and has provided expert comment for outlets like the BBC and ITV. In his spare time, Josh likes to play FPS games and RPGs, practice the bass guitar, and reminisce about the film and TV sets he worked on as a child actor.