Hello there everyone,

This update is a big one for us here at Starbreeze because we went into this year with the goal of providing you all an anniversary to remember.

Things we've been doing during the year set us up for this moment and for what comes next in PAYDAY 3. From the new ways to unlock content, the upgrade to Unreal Engine 5, the improvement to our Tutorial, and now with our revamped Campaign and removal of paid Heist DLC - these are all geared towards how we will steer the game, with all of you, into the future. And we're excited for what comes next! But mostly, we're excited for you all to experience everything on offer in this Anniversary update.

Thank you for going on this journey with us during the year. Happy Anniversary!

-Paul

Features

Free Heists

Last month, we removed all the heist DLCs from sale. And with that, announced that all heists would be free moving forward. Starting with this update, that promise comes true. You can now play all the game’s heists however you please. Enjoy!

Brute Force Crimebond

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The Crimebonds represent a new era for PAYDAY 3. A new way to package and deliver all types of content to all heisters.

The Brute Force Crimebond focuses on exactly what it sounds like: get the job done fast. The highlight of this Crimebond has to be the OVE9050, the saw. Able to cut through lockpickable doors, deposit boxes, and cops alike - the saw is the ultimate shortcut to a quick exit.

Check out the full list of content on the store page here:

[dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/5101770"][/dynamiclink]P.S. For players who don't own the Brute Force Crimebond DLC, you'll be able to "Steal" some of the items from it by using your Renown! If you later decide to purchase the Crimebond DLC, this Renown will be reimbursed back to you!

Campaign

When writing a brand-new story for PAYDAY 3, we avoided changing too much in the heists themselves and focused on creating a wraparound for every heist to recontextualize the game and its premise.

We establish Shade and her relationship with the gang, explain why not every heister is back committing crimes with the gang. And provide a stronger reason for returning to the job in the first place.

Better yet, we’ve created a system that lets us create new campaigns in the future. Still weaving them through existing heists, that means that we will have the opportunity to add new campaigns and tell different stories by combining new and old heists and events.

We hope you enjoy it! 

RIP, John Concord. You won’t be missed.

Weapon Perks

But what about more customization? Weapon perks are powerful abilities added to your weapons. They’re added from the weapon mods menu and can completely change how your build works. Each weapon class (assault rifle, SMG, etc) has its own perks; be sure to check them all out.

Perks can be equipped or persistent. Equipped, shown in blue with a hand icon, means it works when you’re holding the item. Persistent, shown as a green icon with a holster, works at all times like a passive ability. Make sure to use both and become unstoppable!

Iconic Weapons

We’ve seen the feedback on the iconic weapons, and we agreed: They didn’t have a clear purpose in the game, especially following the removal of weapon XP.

To really make these guns stand out, we’ve given them either a perk from another weapon class or a completely unique one. 

Shared Weapon Mods

Several weapon mods previously exclusive to certain weapons have been made shareable, meaning they’ll be usable on more weapons than they were before. More bang for your buck and another tool to unlock the full potential of your dream build.

Overkill Weapon Customization

With the release of the OVE9050, we’re adding the ability to customize Overkill Weapons. This means that in addition to the very powerful perks, you’ll be able to equip unique skins, paint, add stickers and charms to them in order to ensure your most powerful tool doesn’t clash with your getup.

Shooting Range

We’ve made a lot of changes to how you can customize your build in this update, so it makes sense to add a place for you to test your new loadout.

The shooting range is accessible through the main play button in the main menu. Here, you can test your damage against targets at different ranges, conveniently switch loadouts, and do some A/B testing if you’re trying to finalize that new build you’ve been working on.

Emotes

Point, wave, or gesture. You can now customize your character's emotes in the emote menu under loadout. Express yourself, or express your dissatisfaction at your enemies, or flip off your friends, you decide.

Customization

Sprays, weapon patterns, and mask patterns are no longer consumable. You can now buy these items using in-game cash, and use them as many times as you’d like.

Heist DLC Ownership Rewards

Last month, we made all DLC heists free. As part of that, we promised we’d provide unique compensation items for all the players who’ve supported us this far. They’re included in this update, and frankly, look amazing. Thanks for sticking with us this far. Wear these new masks as a badge of honor going forward. We salute you.

Modding

We have disabled .pak file signature verification in the project. This step allows the game to load unsigned/custom .pak files instead of rejecting them, and enables a much simpler pipeline for creating custom content such as skins, masks, and other visual assets.

Changelog

Gameplay

  • Fixed an issue with controller deadzone settings, causing it to never be below 0.2 even though the settings said it was lower.

  • Safe doors will now pass through players if a player moves into their path while they are opening.

  • RFID readers will now turn grey once they can no longer be interacted with.

  • Fixed an issue where interrupting a human shield takedown could leave the player stuck.

  • Fixed an issue where players could become stuck in a deployable equipment state while casing, preventing actions such as sprinting.

  • The FBI antenna can now be damaged with the baseball bat in addition to the saw.

  • Reflector shields will now correctly blind players again.

  • Fixed an issue where weapon ammo information would not update correctly when changing mods.

  • Fixed an issue where the ATK7 would not correctly eject ammunition during reloads and could incorrectly retain a round in the chamber. The ATK7 Quick Mag now also has the same ammo pickup rate as its other magazines.

  • Players can now shoot open safe deposit boxes.

Balance

  • Zappers will now die when their battery is detonated.

  • Fixed an issue where Nader would get stuck while navigating certain areas, such as when rappelling or crawling.

  • Fixed an issue where using the legacy controller button layout occasionally caused inputs to be registered twice.

  • Slightly reduced the number of enemies that spawn across all difficulties.

  • Improved enemy coordination during assaults, with enemies now forming larger squads and attacking from more focused directions. Most special enemies will also gravitate towards groups, making them harder to isolate.

  • Fixed an issue where killing enemies at longer distances would not properly contribute to the assault intensity.

  • HEAT decay now starts 2.5 seconds earlier.

  • Fine-tuned assault pacing on lower difficulties so combat intensity builds up more gradually.

  • Fixed an issue where SWATs would look at their targets through walls, floors, ceilings etc.

  • Slightly faster cop and SWAT speeds

  • Rebalanced Snipers to specialize in breaking armor. Their health damage has been reduced from: 

    • 100 to 30 on Normal

    • 100 to 38 on Hard

    • 200 to 50 on Very Hard

    • 300 to 50 on Overkill

  • Their armor damage multiplier has been increased to x3.
    On Very Hard and Overkill, Snipers now also take one second longer to line up their shots, giving players more time to react.

  • The dozer faceplate is now about 50% harder to crack. 

    • An estimated 22 -> 33 shot increase using the CAR-4. 

  • Rebalanced Zapper and Nader's weak points. The Nader weak point explosion radius against players has been reduced from 500 to 350, while the explosion can still damage nearby enemies for up to 520 base damage with falloff over distance. The duration of being tased after destroying a Taser's weak point has also been reduced from 6 seconds to 3 seconds.

  • Cloakers will now throw a gas grenade instead of shooting at players they cannot reach, giving them a new way to pressure targets from a distance.

  • Naders are now more aggressive with their throwables. Their grenade cooldown has been reduced from 15 seconds to 3 seconds, their throwing animation is faster, and they can now also throw Frag Grenades.

  • Increased Nader survivability by giving them more health and additional ammo plates.

  • Players can now rotate farther while tased, giving them more freedom to react and fight back.


Skill Changes

New grenade build balance

The aim was to retain the power of grenades, while balancing in-the-moment and total amounts of throwables that players gain access to throughout a heist.

  • New Base values:

    • Starting grenade amount - 3 -> 2

    • Replenishment of throwables from ammo bags: 3 -> 2

  • Base Grenade values:

    • Base damage increased from 350 -> 552 within 2 m, with an additional distance bracket of 2.5 with damage 350

  • Grenadier branch changes:

    • Bombs Away Base: damage bonus 7.5% -> 2.5%

    • Stockpile: Frag grenades Aced - additional grenades 3 -> 2

    • Sudden Impact Aced: additional Frag grenades 3 -> 2

    • Mad Bomber Base: chance to restore 1 grenade 25% -> 15%

    • Mad Bomber Aced: reworked - now secondary grenades are Flashbangs, that do not have a chance to restore a grenade, and are influenced by skills in the Flashpoint skill branch

  • Ammo Specialist branch changes:

    • Munitions Expert Aced: instead of accumulative replenishment based on the amount of invested skill points, the skill increases the amount of throwables restored by an ammo bag charge by 1

    • Ammo Up 1 Aced: additional charges 2 -> 1

    • Utility Belt Base: total throwables increase 2 -> 1

    • Utility Belt Aced: total throwables increase 5 -> 2

    • Premium Bag Base: amount of granted throwables 2 -> 1

  • Fixed an issue where Sunburn, Sunburn Aced, and related flashbang skills stopped functioning after the Unreal Engine 5 update.

  • Munition Expert Aced now grants a fixed bonus instead of scaling with the number of skill points invested.

  • Frag Master Aced grenade clusters now spawn Flash Grenades, which can benefit from other compatible skills.


UI

  • Updated item backgrounds to improve icon readability.

  • Moved mod information to the right side of the screen so related information is displayed together.

  • Added interaction text when deploying road spikes.

  • Updated several item icons to display at a higher resolution.

  • Added new background artwork to vendors' screens.

  • Updated Crimebond logos and naming to better reflect their content.

  • Removed the "Beta" label from Solo Mode.

  • Improved Crimebond navigation, including fixing the shop back button so it correctly returns to the DLC store.

  • Added an animation to the black market inspection screen.

  • Added the "mark enemy" input to the controller reference while viewing through cameras.

  • Fixed an issue where some player names could appear as "User content blocked."

  • Fixed an issue where the lobby could continue displaying the "Any" tactic after the host changed it.

  • Weapon description panels in the inventory can now display sight and perk information.

  • Weapon charms and stickers are now equipped through the mods menu instead of the cosmetics menu.

  • Fixed the sorting order of items in the inventory.

Art

  • Added a burst of money when bags land and restored the leaking money trail on dyed bags.

  • Improved bag physics so bags behave more naturally when moving and landing.

  • Adjusted the sight positioning on the Skogskrigare AG-9.

Audio

  • Added additional sound effects to destructible objects such as cans, glasses, cups, vases, and fruit.

  • Enemy Gunfire Sound Changes - Created individual gunfire sounds for each cop and SWAT type.

  • Added cone attenuation to Cops and SWAT gunfire - Easier to hear when you're being fired on.

  • Added Individual Gunfire sounds and cone attenuation to Crew AI.


Heist Changes

Most heists have had VO, and text has been changed to accommodate the new story and campaign mode. We won’t mention them all here to not overfill the changelog.

Dirty Ice

  • Improved several interactions and objectives. Including clearer phone interactions, more reliable Shade dialogue, and giving players slightly more time to reach the manager after calling her.

  • Added a pocket drill to the workshop door when the heist goes loud. Also fixed the flare objective appearing before any loot had been collected.

Gold & Sharke

  • Fixed an issue where pedestrians outside could detect masked players through the large ground-floor windows during stealth. These windows can once again be seen through normally once the heist goes loud.

  • Added a counter to the optional "Steal All Loot" objective so players can see how many bags remain.

99 Boxes

  • Fixed an issue where deployable tools could not be placed on certain surfaces.

  • Ziplines can now be used again.

  • The "No Stone Unturned" challenge now correctly counts bags being carried when the heist is completed.

Road Rage

  • Fixed an issue where the armored transport could end up sideways on the final ramp.

Touch the Sky

  • Improved the piano interaction area and added the correct localized interaction prompt.

  • Fixed an issue where players could become stuck behind the breached doors in Mason's office.

  • Fixed an issue where Mason could incorrectly become outlined on Normal difficulty when near the couches.

  • Fixed an issue where the poison could appear on Normal difficulty despite not being required.

  • Fixed an issue where Overkill Weapons could be delivered out of reach when called from the staircase.

  • Fixed an issue where Mason could continue speaking over the PA after being killed.

  • Fixed an issue where Mason remained outlined on Normal difficulty after the alarm was triggered.

  • Fixed an issue where the waypoint for preplanning C4 would fail to appear after going loud if the panic room had already been discovered.

  • Fixed an issue where secure-loot waypoints could remain after all loot, including the cat figurines, had been secured.

Boys in Blue

  • Fixed an issue where guards could see players through a blacked-out window that players could not see through.

First World Bank

  • Fixed an issue where the elevator could close during the preplanning thermite setup, potentially softlocking the heist.

  • Fixed an issue where the endless assault could begin too early, making bag extraction significantly more difficult than intended.

Syntax Error

  • Made several quality-of-life improvements, including a visible 10-second computer hack, an interactable safe code, a keypad waypoint after finding the code, improved lure visibility, additional voice lines, and more body disposal locations.

Houston Breakout

  • Adjusted the blue keycard search behavior so guards now search only the rotunda and hallway. The waypoint remains active in loud to ensure players can still locate the keycard when needed.

Delivery Charge

  • Fixed an issue where AI had difficulty navigating into the vault.

  • Fixed an issue where AI could not properly enter or exit shipping containers.

⚠️Known Issues

  • Campaign - We are aware of several instances of outdated mission objectives and subtitles in Boys in Blue, Fear & Greed, and Syntax Error. If you discover any more, especially in non-English, please report them as best you can.

  • Combining the Haymaker weapon perk and the Hidden Blade skill causes a conflict, resulting in the throwing knife being consumed without killing the enemy.

  • Shooting Range - If the Interceptor Overkill Weapon is equipped, the phones held by the mannequin characters will be misaligned.

  • Emote preview won’t show secondary items, such as the coin in a coin flip.

  • Weapon perks lack an in-game explanation of equipped and persistent weapon perks. Equipped perks have a blue hand icon, and persistent perks have a green holster icon.

  • When stealing a Crimebond item while at maximum renown level, it is currently not possible to regain those levels.

  • The background image in the vendor’s menu shows weapons that cannot actually be bought in the weapons vendor.

  • The “owned” checkmark won’t properly appear on purchased items in the in-game shop UI.

  • Changing the paint colors on any Weapon does not take effect on the next heist you play after customisation, but will correct itself on the second or third heist.

Updates may be incompatible with the mods you may have installed. Even seemingly unrelated mods may cause unexpected issues. If you are experiencing any problems with the game; try removing any mods you may have installed and try again.

If you are having issues with an unmodded game you can try to verify the integrity of the game files. In the Steam library; right-click on PAYDAY 3. Select "Properties" from the menu. Under the tab "LOCAL FILES" select "VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES...". The process may take some time to finish.