Payday 3 rescue mission 'Operation Medic Bag' will prioritize new features over DLC

Starbreeze is attempting to convince players Payday 3 is worth their time after the shooter failed to deliver at launch. The company has branded its mission to revamp the title "Operation Medic Bag" and claims that, so far, it's going pretty well.

As explained in the company's latest fiscal report, Starbreeze—which recently ousted its CEO with Payday 3 performing at "significantly lower levels" than expected—launched Project Medic Bag to meet the expectations of the player community.

It claims the operation is a "focused project" that has resulted in three major updates since February 15, 2024. Earlier this year, Starbreeze told investors it had formed a "strike team of veteran developers" to rehabilitate the project and claimed Payday 3 remained its "biggest focus and absolute priority."

Bigger patches, more often for Payday 3

Starbreeze says that strike team has chosen to "increase the cadence and scope" of patches to cover smaller tweaks, improvements to progression systems, bolster matchmaking and server infrastructure, and deliver a solo/offline mode. It added that "several larger milestone releases" are planned, the first of which should arrive in June.

Notably, the company said Operation Medic Bag has resulted in it pushing "some content DLCs in favor of adding new features." The studio feels player sentiments are already shifting due to the initiative, showing that it's on the right track.

How, though, have its coffers been impacted? For the first-quarter ended March 31, 2024, the company achieved net sales of SEK 56.6 million ($5.3 million)—an increase on the SEK 26.7 million it delivered this time last year. Payday 3 accounted for SEK 23.3 million of that sales revenue, which is actually less than the SEK 36.2 million it contributed during the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal year.

The company also recorded a loss of SEK 21 million ($1.96 million), which is an improvement on the 24.7 million loss it recorded in Q1 last year.

Starbreeze claims its search for a permanent successor to former CEO Tobias Sjögren is coming to an end. It has named company CFO Mats Juhl as its new interim CEO while it completes that process.