Payday 2 now has almost 85 times as many average players as Payday 3

2013’s Payday 2 has almost 85 times as many average players on Steam as 2023’s Payday 3.

On Tuesday, Starbreeze announced it had ousted its current CEO following Payday 3’s disappointing performance, and the latest Steam numbers illustrate the scale of the underperformance.

According to the independent Steam tracking service SteamDB, in the last 24 hours, Payday 2 has enjoyed a peak player count of 31,866. In contrast, Payday 3 achieved a peak count of 378.

While this number doesn’t account for console players, it throws into sharp relief the views of the Payday community. At one time on March 11, fewer than 130 people were playing Payday 3.

Payday 3 got off to a respectable start, charting 77,938 peak players at launch, but a string of technical issues and a breakdown in communication between developer Starbreeze and the community has seemingly contributed to the game’s player count dropping vociferously.

Major server issues, which Starbreeze blamed on problems with external matchmaking software, marred the co-op game’s late September release, while fans were also left frustrated by an extended wait for the title’s first update.

In November, Embracer Group said the game failed to meet expectations. During Embracer’s second-quarter earnings Q&A on in November, CEO Lars Wingefors said Payday 3 had come in “a bit weaker than expected”.

“The game had a had a positive Adjusted EBIT contribution with investments recouped in the second quarter, but performed below management expectations,” he said. “Starbreeze is now hard at work to improve the player experience.”

Speaking on Tuesday in an announcement confirming  a change in CEO, the company said it “needs a different leadership.”

“The company has a clear strategy centered around creating attractive games on our own and licensed IPs,” said Starbreeze chairman Torgny Hellström in a statement. “The board’s consolidated assessment is that the execution of strategy needs a different leadership.

“Juergen Goeldner has been part of the board since 2023 and, with over 40 years of industry experience, is a strong interim solution.”