PAYDAY 2 was easily one of the top games on Steam until last year when developer Overkill added microtransactions in the Black Market update. The move resulted in a massive fallout within the community, and it wasn't too hard to figure out why: not only is there a disdain of microtransactions in general among gamers, but the developer had promised in 2013 that it wouldn't implement them in the first place.
Now, it looks like Overkill and parent company Starbreeze are looking to get back in the good graces of its once thriving community, announcing that it has acquired the full rights to the PAYDAY franchise from publisher 505 Games, and one of the first things it will do with its complete ownership is remove microtransactions from PAYDAY 2.
In a video that accompanied the release, Producer Almir Listo begins by saying: "We are freeing up the black market."
"Starting with the next update in PAYDAY 2, any old-generation safes in the loot drop will stop to drop," he continued. "Any new-generation safe, going forward, will drop completely for free. You will still be able to trade all the old and new generation safes and items using the Steam Marketplace. Your prices [and] supply and demand will still continue to shape the PAYDAY 2 marketplace. Any new generation safes that drop will be dropping completely for free, and will continue to have different rarities and qualities, depending on what kind of items you get. The only difference is, now you open them for free."
Update 100 is live!
Read more here: Overkillsoftware.com
Update 100 Changelog
Check the bottom of the website! Overkillsoftware.com
AMA WITH FAQ ON TWITCH.TV TOMORROW!
Tomorrow OVERKILL_Joakim, OVERKILL_Hampe and OVERKILL_Jules are doing an AMA on the Starbreeze Twitch.tv Channel between 4pm-6pm EST. We will go through as many questions as we can asked in the question thread. Make sure to pop in and join us! FAQ answered on the stream will be posted in this section for people to review in the coming days.
UPDATE CHANGELOG 100
PAYDAY 2 bundle files have been split up into smaller parts. Instead of having 15 files that are 1.5 GB each, we now have 60 files that are 400 MB each. What that means is that it will require less harddisk space to install a patch.
For example: If you have a patch that is 10 MB, then you need to make an backup of the 1.5 GB file which will require a disk space of 1.5 GB + 10 MB. With smaller files it will require a disk space of 410 MB instead.
Update Size: 6.4GB
GENERAL
- Fixed a crash when receiving a new safe before the game has been updated
- Fixed a graphical issue when switching Skill Sets when having the Maniac or the Anarchist perk deck selected
- Fixed an issue that caused two lives of the player to get deducted when getting tased while under the effect of swan song
- Fixed an issue where the new item symbol next to the Inventory would reappear after restarting the game
- Swan song will now activate after landing, if the player was downed while using a zipline
- Fixed an issue where clients didn't receive a message when a player revived another player using the Inspire skill
- Trip Mines placed by clients will not damage the Team AI
- Added Parallax Rendering as an option in the Advanced Video Settings in the Options menu
- Added SMAA Anti Aliasing as an option in the Advanced Video Settings in the Options menu
- Added the option to turn off the default FXAA Anti Aliasing as an option in the Advanced Video Settings in the Options menu
- Added SSAO Low Ambient Occlusion as an option in the Advanced Video Settings in the Options menu
- Added SSAO High Ambient Occlusion as an option in the Advanced Video Settings in the Options menu
- Added the option to turn off the default AOB Ambient Occlusion as an option in the Advanced Video Settings in the Options menu
- Fixed an issue where Jimmy, as a Team AI, would be called Sokol
ART
- Added decapitation to the Mercenary Cloaker when using a Katana Melee Weapon while playing as Jiro
- Added head trauma to the Mercenary Taser when using a Platypus 70 Sniper Rifle while playing as Bodhi
- Fixed an issue that caused special enemies to show multiple LOD steps at the same time
SOUND
- Fixed an issue where a sallad destruction sound would sound like glass breaking
- Fixed an issue where throwing a Molotov could play a Grenade sound
WEAPONS
- The Heather SMG can now use the Milspec Scope
- Fixed an issue where an incorrect weapon modification could drop for the Saiga Shotgun
STEAM MARKET
- The Sputnik Safe and Drill will not drop in the end of heist Loot Drop
- The Bodhi Safe and Drill will not drop in the end of heist Loot Drop
- The Wolf Safe and Drill will not drop in the end of heist Loot Drop
- The Crimefest 2 Safe and Drill will not drop in the end of heist Loot Drop
- The Dallas Safe and Drill will not drop in the end of heist Loot Drop
- The Jimmy Safe and Drill will not drop in the end of heist Loot Drop
- The Sydney Safe and Drill will not drop in the end of heist Loot Drop
(Courtesy of: Mdlune.tumblr.com)
LEVELS
- Aftershock
- Fixed navigation issues in the construction yard that caused the Team AI not to follow the player
- Fixed an issue where the Team AI could get stuck inside of the house in the construction yard
- Alesso Arena
- Fixed a small graphical issue near the stairs to the upper floor
- Beneath The Mountain
- Fixed an issue where loot bags could get stuck under the helicopter
- Fixed an issue where players could fall through the world when opening the door to the compound
- Fixed an issue where the players could get stuck behind a concrete block outside of the control room
- Birth of Sky
- Fixed a missing collision on the roof of the Car Shop after the windows break
- Counterfeit
- Fixed an issue where the players could get stuck behind the door to the basement
- Added yellow outlines to the power boxes when the enemies turn off the power
- Removed invisible collisions in the basement
- Escape: Park
- Fixed an issue where players could see through a wall
- Firestarter Day 1
- Fixed an issue where the players could get stuck behind some boxes in the first hanger to the right
- Framing Frame Day 3
- Fixed an issue where players could walk into the computer room multiple times to increase their experience reward
- Goat Simulator Day 1
- Fixed an issue where players could bypass the fire and debris without turning off the sprinklers
- Goat Simulator Day 2
- Fixed an issue where players could get stuck behind the door to the bridge control room
- Fixed an issue where players could get access to the bridge before the goats had been secured
- Fixed an issue where the poison gas would not properly damage the player
- Golden Grin Casino
- Fixed an issue that caused debris to get stuck in the air
- Added a missing debrief line to the heist summary screen
- Fixed an issue where clients would not be able to pick up their gear from the guitar case if the host picks it up before them
- Hoxton Breakout Day 1
- Fixed an issue where the Team AI could get stuck in the elevators
- Hoxton Breakout Day 2
- Fixed an issue where players could walk through a part of the railing
- Fixed an issue with a bench
- Hoxton Revenge
- Fixed an issue where the Thermal Drill would not respawn when thrown into the river
- Mallcrasher
- Fixed an issue with the animation of the police cars driving in when the alarm goes off
- Murky Station
- Fixed an issue where the Blowtorch effect would not be visible from both sides
- Santa’s Workshop
- Fixed a issue where lamps would keep glowing after being shot
- Fixed an issue where the players could get stuck behind the snow cannons
- The Bomb: Forest
- Fixed an issue where the ambience audio was playing the wrong file
- The Diamond
- Fixed an issue with lamps
- Transport: Crossroad
- Fixed an issue where loot bags could get stuck on a ledge above a store window
- Undercover
- Fixed an issue where players could jump into a room that was not part of the intended playable area
- Watchdogs Day 1
- Fixed an issue where the players could get stuck behind the door to the balcony leading to the left loot drop-off point
- Watchdogs Day 2
- Fixed an issue where loot bags could get stuck behind a bike
In short, starting from the next update, microtransactions will be gone in its entirety.
Surprisingly, this isn't the only big news that Starbreeze announced. In addition to microtransactions being removed from PAYDAY 2, it also confirmed Payday 3 will be coming in the future. It didn't say this specifically, rather, the agreement with 505 Games for PAYDAY includes a note about money made from Payday 3.
Specifically, it says 505 will get a 33 percent revenue share of Starbreeze's net revenues from future sales of PAYDAY 3, capped at $40 million after Starbreeze, and after Starbeeze has fully recouped its development and marketing costs. In addition, 505 will retain full net revenue from PAYDAY 2 on the Steam platform starting retroactively from May 1st, 2016.
In the meantime, Starbreeze pledged to continue developing new content for PAYDAY 2 for at least 18 more months. This means that players can expect more content for the game through the end of 2017.
There's also an E3 teaser that starts around the 3:45 mark of the video featuring Dallas, Chains, and Dragan. You can watch it separately below:
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