Payday 3 developer Starbreeze is looking into removing the game’s always-online requirement.
In a statement released earlier this week, the studio admits that the game’s matchmaking hasn’t performed “as tested and expected”.
“Payday 3 matchmaking infrastructure has not performed as tested and expected,” the studio says. “Matchmaking software encountered an unforeseen error, which made it unable to handle the massive influx of players. The issue caused an unrecoverable situation for Starbreeze’s third-party matchmaking partner.
“A new version of the matchmaking server software was gradually deployed across all regions leading to improved performance. However, a software update made by the partner during late Sunday again introduced instability to the matchmaking infrastructure. The partner continues to work to improve and stabilize Payday 3’s online systems.
“The issue in question did not manifest during Technical Betas or Early Access due to the specificity of rapid user influx and load-balancing. Starbreeze is currently evaluating all options, both short- and long-term.
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“In the short-term, this means Starbreeze’s focus is to ensure the player experience. In the long-term, this means evaluating a new partner for matchmaking services and making Payday 3 less dependent on online services.”
When Payday 3 was revealed, one of the most controversial aspects of the game was the revelation that it would require players to always be online. That meant that even if you wanted to play the game by yourself, you had to connect to the game’s servers to do anything.
Of course, that was met with backlash from players prior to the game’s launch. However, now that the game is available for everyone, the noise around the always-online requirement is even louder because the game has been plagued by server issues since day one.
“We are disappointed in the issues our playerbase has faced during our launch weekend, but we are confident in our core product and the quality of PAYDAY 3 – and all available metrics point to it,” Tobias Sjögren, CEO of Starbreeze Entertainment said. “We have a lot of diligent and consistent work ahead of us to regain community trust, but we will work hard to do it.”
