New Payday 3 Release Window Revealed

Payday 3 has found itself a publisher, and with that comes a new release window for the next game in the Payday series. Starbreeze, the creators of the Payday games, announced this week that it’s entered a co-publishing agreement with Koch Media GmbH and will be working with the massive gaming company to create and publish the next Payday game. It’s due out at some point during 2023 which is a ways out, but it’s at least got a release window and publishing details settled now.

A press release shared by Starbreeze went into the details of the Payday 3 announcement. Starbreeze will retain ownership of the Payday IP with Overkill Software developing the game while co-publishing rights are shared between Starbreeze and Koch Media. The big takeaway from this for Payday fans, however, is that the game is still happening and will be out sometime before the end of 2023. It’s been confirmed that the game will release for consoles and on PC, though specific platforms were not named.

In Starbreeze’s announcement, it referenced the games as a service model which Payday 2 adopted long after the developers planned to keep the content coming. Starbreeze said it’ll have “additional content and functionalities planned for long beyond the original release date” while Koch Media’s press release said its investment encompassed “more than 18 months” of post-launch work including continued development and new content.

“We are excited to announce this exclusive long-term Payday 3 co-publishing deal with Koch Media who shares our passion for the Payday franchise and the ‘Games as a service’ model,” said Tobias Sjögren, Acting CEO of Starbreeze. “In addition to securing the continued development, this deal secures global publishing of Payday 3 as well as the marketing efforts through the entire game life cycle. We now have a strong foundation for a successful launch of Payday 3.”

Klemens Kundratitz, the CEO of Koch Media Group, offered similar praises for Payday 3 by saying that, based on what’s been seen already, the game will “take the franchise to new heights” and will satisfy both Payday fans and newcomers.

Payday 3 does not yet have a more specific release date beyond sometime in 2023.