Dev Blog #1

NOTE: ALL CONTENT INCLUDED IN THESE BLOGS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE, AS THE GAME IS STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT.

Hello Heisters,

Welcome to the first developer blog update for PAYDAY Crime War!

COMMUNITY AT THE HEART

We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Starbreeze to bring the world of PAYDAY to your mobile device! Since we took over the game’s development here at PopReach last year, we’ve been blown away by the excitement and passionate feedback we’ve received from PAYDAY’s amazing community. As massive fans of PAYDAY ourselves, we want to make sure we deliver an authentic Payday experience that excites the community and introduces the world of PAYDAY to new heisters around the world! That’s why we feel it’s important to involve you in the development process to share early feedback, and help us make a kickass game.

In December, we started with a small closed multiplayer beta test to test our all-new multiplayer networking and PvP gameplay. We anticipated a few thousand players but ended up with over 20,000 registrations! Huge thanks to all those who participated. Since then, our team has been hard at work making improvements to the game based on all the feedback we’ve received, and, as we work towards release, we want to continue to provide ways for our community to see what is changing and be involved in the conversation. That’s why we’ve decided to start this monthly developer blog, to give you an inside look into the process and start community discussions on upcoming features of the game.

THE HISTORY OF CRIME WAR

When Starbreeze began the development of PAYDAY Crime War way back in 2016, they saw it as an opportunity to create a PvP PAYDAY experience for the first time: classic cops vs. robbers, with players strapping on SWAT helmets to take on the heisters. The game evolved a lot over its development until it was finally soft-launched in 2019, when it was unfortunately shut down because of publishing issues. As PAYDAY fans ourselves, we still saw massive potential in this game, so we jumped at the opportunity to get our hands in there and give it a second chance.

Even though the original PAYDAY Crime War was close to release, since years have passed, we identified that much of the initial core infrastructure of the game felt dated. The mobile shooter genre has also grown immensely over that time, with many AAA shooters making their way to mobile. To deliver a shooter experience that can meet the rapidly growing expectations of mobile players, much of the core gameplay systems needed reworking. To meet the demands of a modern mobile shooter while being able to run smoothly on a range of mobile devices, we realized that even if it would have been ideal to clean up the old game and release it as-is and get the game to the players fast, we want to make sure to launch a game that feels relevant and can have a long sustainable future, as PAYDAY 2 has had.

THE NEW CRIME WAR

Many PAYDAY fans are excited to get real PvP for the first time, and it’s still going to be a big part of PAYDAY Crime War. However, the team also agreed that an authentic PAYDAY experience needs co-op PvE heists. That’s what PAYDAY is.

If you aren’t ragging on your friend for tripping the alarm two seconds out from a clean escape, are you really playing PAYDAY?

PVE: AN OVERVIEW

Here’s a quick overview of what we’ve been working on for PvE:

• We’re changing up the PAYDAY formula while keeping the classic heists veterans love. We’re featuring new objectives tied to varying difficulty levels.
• Heists will be unlocked as you level with new ones on the horizon.
• Bank Heist is coming back with new opportunities and challenges, including remixed security measures and looting opportunities.
• Prepare to coordinate with your teammates in stealthier situations! Teamwork will be your key to success.
• Missions will be fast-paced and shortened. No more hauling a billion bags or waiting minutes upon minutes for a drill to finish!
• Careful planning and casing must be weighed against a challenging mission timer before things get out of control.
• Enemies such as guards and SWAT members have been re-worked to provide a dynamic, challenging, and fun experience.
• Don’t kill civs or pay the price! Your heat level rises as the match progresses, and killing civilians causes it to spike. The higher the heat, the more intense the SWAT response. Violence begets violence, after all.

We’re looking forward to showing you more over the next few months!

Want to give us feedback? Feel free to reach out on our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/paydaycrimewar

LET’S DO THIS, HEISTERS!