Payday 3, the long-awaited sequel to the popular heist-themed video game series, officially debuted on September 21. While the early access launch for Silver and Gold edition owners had its share of server instability, the situation took a turn for the worse upon the full game’s release.
Starting the day after its official launch, Payday 3 experienced severe outages in its matchmaking services. Matchmaking is a critical component for a cooperative game like Payday 3, especially for players who lack a full party of friends to join. Unfortunately, the issues quickly escalated.
Matchmaking problems spread across all platforms, causing disappointment for players who had looked forward to a weekend of virtual heists. The official Payday Twitter account worked diligently to provide updates, but most of the news was disheartening.
We're now seeing all platforms unable to matchmake, the team is working hard to restore functionality.
— PAYDAY 3 (@PAYDAYGame) September 22, 2023
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While there were periods of improvement, matchmaking issues resurfaced later in the day, affecting all platforms once again. The situation deteriorated to the point where players were unable to create lobbies. These issues persisted throughout the weekend, leading many players to abandon the game entirely due to their frustration.
In the most recent update, issued approximately five hours ago, it was confirmed that matchmaking services have been restored. The development team is actively working to stabilize the servers, aiming to prevent future instances of these disruptive problems in Payday 3.
The recovery has halted and we have another drop in the service. The team is working on restoring functionality as soon as possible.
— PAYDAY 3 (@PAYDAYGame) September 24, 2023
It’s essential to note that Payday 3 was a day-one Game Pass release on PC and Xbox Series X/S. It is also available on Steam and PS5, with cross-play support across all platforms. Despite the ambitious undertaking by a relatively small team, the launch woes have significantly affected players’ experiences.
Players are once again able to get back in the game, but the team is still working on stabilising the matchmaking services.
— PAYDAY 3 (@PAYDAYGame) September 25, 2023
Currently, Payday 3’s user review rating on Steam stands at ‘Mostly Negative,’ with 67% of nearly 24,000 reviews expressing dissatisfaction primarily due to the persistent server issues and disconnections.
