Operation Medic Bag: Update #17 – DLC Pricing & Compensations

Hello Heisters!

In this post, we’ll be going through our thoughts regarding the DLC pricing changes we promised as part of Operation Medic Bag. We’ll discuss the changes we want to make versus the changes we’re able to make, and how we try to find the best of both worlds. This is a big topic, so let’s jump right in.

We’re going to start with a little bit of background, for context, but if you’re only looking at what we are planning to do next, you can skip ahead to “So what do we do?” section below!

Backstory

In September 2023, PAYDAY 3 launched at $39.99 with two additional digital versions containing the DLCs to be released over the next year and a physical collector’s edition.

The setup was pretty straightforward. Our goal was to sell the game at $39.99, then offer the DLCs for sale early on in bundles, similar to what we did for PAYDAY 2. In addition, PAYDAY 3 would have an in-game store containing non-gameplay affecting cosmetics.

In summary, we used the same price as the previous title and even bundled it the same, so why did our pricing create such a stir?

The DLC Pricing

Put simply, the DLC prices were the issue. Our first DLC bundle, Syntax Error, was released at $17.99. This is very close to the standard price for a modern game’s DLC, isn’t it? Well, no. Let’s not forget we had already established this model back in PAYDAY 2, with the bundles containing heist, weapon, and outfit DLCs priced at $9.99. Having them both side by side gave the whole community the perfect point of comparison to reject the new price vehemently.

We hadn’t announced the pricing for the individual DLCs when the game launched. We had the game and the different bundles, placing a clear indication of the price split across multiple DLC.

So what do we do?

Slow down there, faceless PAYDAY Blog Man. Let’s take a step back and start by listing the problems. We’ll stick to the problems in regard to the topic at hand. We know there are problems in other areas, but let’s stay on target.

• The game wasn’t living up to heisters’ expectations
• PAYDAY 2 DLC bundles were $9.99 > PAYDAY 3 is $17.99
• Potential new heisters were unable to upgrade from one edition to another
• We can’t just lower the price since people already “paid for them” by purchasing Silver & Gold Editions
• The community reception of the price was universally negative

So what are you doing about it?

We’re lowering the price. We already announced a price reduction when we posted the first blog of Operation Medic Bag. Most of you know that already, but we haven’t announced how much or how we’ll make sure that Syntax Error, Silver, and Gold Edition owners don’t feel like they got the worst deal. Let’s go to our trusty old bullet point list to summarize all of this.

• We’re lowering the price significantly for Year 1’s upcoming DLCs. In total, this equates to a reduction by roughly 33%.
• We are not changing the price of Syntax Error or the Silver & Gold Editions (outside of sales and seasonal discounts). Instead, we aim to add value to all SKUs.
• To compensate for the price disparity for the rest of Year 1’s DLCs, we’re taking a number of cosmetic items formerly intended for sale in the in-game store and adding them to the various editions to bring their value up and compensate for the Syntax Error pricing.
• All editions–Syntax Error Bundle, Silver Edition, and Gold Edition owners–get items.
• Each of the higher editions get slightly more than the last, but we’ve worked on making sure that these compensations are fair.

Releasing alongside this price change will be a Gold Pass. Upgrading to this package will give you everything that the Gold Edition offers, including the compensation items, as you would expect!

Below is a split of compensated items based on the way that you bought Syntax Error

If you bought Syntax Error on its own:

If you bought Silver Edition:

If you bought Gold Edition:

In Summary:

So that’s about the long and not-so-short of the DLC pricing topic, and what we’re doing to remedy it–within the constraints that past decisions allow for. In summary, we’re adding value to the current editions, lowering the bundle price of future content, and a way to upgrade to Gold for those who wanted this option from before! Hopefully that helps you understand our approach and sets the expectations (even if we’ve had to use vague numbers) of pricing.

We’re loving the hype for Boys in Blue that’s being seen across the community, so be sure to keep an eye out across the next few weeks for teasers, fun new videos, PAYDAY Twitter Man’s antics, and of course the blogs. We won’t spoil what the next few blogs will be, but we’re certain it’ll blue your mind.