Payday 3’s Player Decline Highlights Ongoing Challenges at Starbreeze

[AIcash]

Despite steady content updates and reclaiming publishing rights to Payday 3 in 2025, Starbreeze has struggled to reignite the game’s player base. On Steam, Payday 3 recently peaked at just 686 concurrent players over 24 hours—a steep drop from nearly 78,000 at launch.

New heists like Party Powder and system updates such as Skills 2.0 provided temporary bumps, but none led to a sustained recovery. The game’s inability to regain traction has coincided with repeated layoffs at the studio, underscoring the high stakes of live-service development.

Starbreeze’s situation mirrors a wider trend across the industry, with major studios including Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, and Square Enix also conducting layoffs throughout 2025. As 2026 begins, the pressures facing game developers show little sign of easing.

[nihalsari]

not just starbreeze. the whole industry’s in crunch + layoffs mode. microsoft, ea, ubisoft… everyone’s feeling 2025.