Multiplayer heist sim PAYDAY 3's launch has been anything but smooth, with massive numbers of players unable to access the game. Plagued by server and matchmaking issues, the always online nature of the title is exacerbating the situation still further.
Problems began for PS5 players when the title's "early access" period started on the 18th. Players who'd paid extra for the privilege were told they were playing the wrong build (and that it was Sony's fault), with the correct version being rolled out the next day.
But issues persisted right up until the full release of the game, on the 21st, where things got so bad it warranted an apology from Starbreeze Studios CEO Tobias Sjögren, who tweeted: "We are so sorry that the infrastructure didn’t hold up as expected, and although it’s impossible to prepare for every scenario – we should be able to do better. We work tirelessly until we have restored all services and our players can get back to heisting again without issues!"
The weekend saw little relief, and players on all platforms reported connectivity issues. This brings us to today, Monday the 25th, and the PAYDAY 3 account itself gives us a pretty good indication of how things are going. At the time of this writing, servers are currently down.
The always-online nature of PAYDAY 3 only makes matters worse, as players can't even run through missions with AI-controlled companions offline in the meantime, as was the case with PAYDAY 2.