Payday 3‘s post-launch content was already mapped out before the game even released, and developer Starbreeze already had a roadmap with the Year One DLCs planned out before the open beta.
Payday 3 has quite a bit of content in stock for the first year. Year One will bring four large DLCs, with heists, cosmetics, and updates on each. Gold edition owners will have access to all Year One DLCs, including four heists, tailor packs, and weapon packs, while Silver edition owners have access to the first half of what’s in stock. Players who don’t own either edition will have to buy the seasons separately.
Even if you don’t have access to the DLCs, Starbreeze will release major balancing updates throughout Year One. These can change the way the game plays without bringing in new missions and should be available for all players.
Here’s what developer Starbreeze has confirmed about the Payday 3 Year One roadmap, including dates, names, and content structure.
Payday 3 roadmap: DLC list
Year One of Payday 3 will be called the Bad Apple, likely as a mix with the “bad apples” idiom and the moniker of the “Big Apple” for New York. It will encompass four DLCs with heists and other improvements. The names and release dates for these may change.
- Syntax Error (Winter 2023)
- Boys in Blue (Spring 2024)
- The Land of the Free (Summer 2024)
- Fear and Greed (Fall 2024)
Each DLC will come with its own heist that advances the overarching campaign-like storyline in Payday 3, and the name of each major update should relate to the heist and story to some degree. There isn’t much information available about the post-launch heists, however.
The official roadmap also lists more characters, enemies, skill lines, and weapons, in addition to seasonal events, cosmetics, and quality-of-life changes. While it will take a bit to get the full picture of everything that’s coming throughout Year One, the developers already started teasing some of the upcoming features just after the game released.
Fans got a taste of one of the skill lines that will reach Payday 3 after launch. Lead producer Andreas Häll Penninger teased the Transporter skill line in an update stream on Sept. 25. This long-requested skill line will allow players to carry two bags, Penninger anticipated, and it could come as early as October, free for all players.
Payday 3 lobbies could also get some much-needed improvements like voice or text chat and an Unready button, developers also teased on the stream—and that’s potentially before any DLC drops.