Payday 3 producer explains why now is the time for a sequel

Speaking to Dexerto, Payday 3 lead producer Andreas Häll Penninger discussed why, after a decade of Payday 2, now is the time for a new game.

Payday 2 just celebrated its 10-year anniversary last month, marking a run most ongoing games can only dream of.

Really, the only thing stopping it from continuing its impressive run is Payday 3, Starbreeze Studios’ successor to its FPS hit. Set years after the previous game, Payday 3 brings the heisters back together along with some new characters for more criminal adventures.

Dexerto was able to speak with Andreas Häll Penninger, lead producer on Payday 3 who has worked on all three Payday games. Penninger was able to explain to us why, after a decade of support for Payday 2, now is the time for a brand new game.

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“Payday 3 is a passion project”

Above all else, Penninger says Payday 3 is a “passion project” for its developers. “There are still a lot of people, including myself, who have worked on the first and second game.”

While there’s obviously still a lot of love for Payday 2, “we felt we were at a point where we were just producing new content. And we love it; it’s very close to our hearts. But it became this content treadmill.”

New technologies available also motivated the team. “We saw an opportunity with Unreal [Engine 4]. Payday 1 and 2 were developed on our in-house engine. With Unreal, we can really evolve the franchise and refine it to make something that we hope and believe our fans are looking for.”

Payday 3 is developed in Unreal Engine 4, though there are plans to upgrade to Unreal Engine 5 post-launch. In addition to the engine, the hardware players are using has come a long way since Payday 2 was released in 2013 for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

These new tools and tech are letting Starbreeze deliver what fans want. As Penninger told us, “We also started to see from a community standpoint more requests for features that we just can’t do in Payday 2 today. So [making Payday 3] just felt very natural for us as a studio.”

On top of all that, Penninger and the team clearly see room in the gaming space for something like Payday 3. “I think there’s a void in the heist genre generally,” he said. “Even if Payday 2 is still going strong, there are not a lot of heist games out there. You have [Grand Theft Auto] Online, which is a very different experience. Crime Boss came out a couple of months ago. But that’s an opportunity.”

What’s clear from Penninger’s response is that there’s so much love for the Payday series among its developers. Sequels to beloved ongoing games can be tough sells – just look at fan reactions to Overwatch 2 over the past year – but it really does seem like now is the perfect time for Payday 3.

If you enjoyed this, check out the rest of our Payday 3 coverage, including our hands-on preview.