Payday developer, Overkill Software, confirms the development of the series’ third game. According to their announcement, Payday 3 is currently in development using Unreal Engine.
The announcement came via a Twitter post published on PayDay 2’s account. The tweet features a photo of a 1337 hacker breaking into CRIMENET to acquire the information. It includes the keywords, status Payday 3, confirmed, design phase, release date TBA, and Unreal Engine.
Payday 3 was first confirmed back in 2016, but the new tweet finally confirms that the game is currently in its design phase. This time, Overkill Software is building it within Unreal Engine. The game engine switch is quite notable since Payday 2 was created using the Overkill’s own Diesel Engine. Fans couldn’t help but wonder what Payday 3 will look like with Unreal Engine.
The release date for the third game is yet to be announced. But this is the first news from Overkill about the game, which may suggest that more information will be released soon. It might also be possible that Payday 3 will be scheduled for a 2022 or 2023 release date.
In June, Payday series publisher, Starbreeze, was reported to be raising more than $26 million to find a publisher for Payday 3. This is due to the negative impacts brought by the global coronavirus pandemic. According to Starbreeze, 70% of the money that will be used to develop Payday 3. Then, 30% of the remaining money will be used to pay the company’s debt associated with its reconstruction period after its near collapse.
With the announcement of Payday 3, it might be possible that Starbreeze has managed to secure enough funding to continue the development of the game. The company is now operating as two entities: Starbreeze Publishing and Starbreeze Studios. Payday 3 is expected to be released for Microsoft Windows gaming PC and consoles.