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PAYDAY 2

PAYDAY 2

OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio. · released Aug 12, 2013

ActionRPGPCPlayStation 3, PlayStation 4Xbox 360, Xbox OneNintendo Switch

PAYDAY 2 is an action-packed, four-player co-op shooter that once again lets gamers don the masks of the original PAYDAY crew - Dallas, Hoxton, Wolf and Chains - as they descend on Washington DC for an epic crime spree.

Steam page ↗Metacritic 79 · users 4.2 ↗
82
VGC Score
▲Improvinghigh confidence

anchored at patch: “PAYDAY 2: Update 247.2 Changelog” (13d ago)

84%
At launch
89%
Steam all-time
79%
Press
55%
Player sentiment
87%
Recent sentiment

PC 82 · Xbox 51

Screenshots & trailers

What players say

Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 412 sampled Steam reviews (349 positive / 63 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.

What positive reviews talk about

  • Multiplayer & servers5% mention it
  • Story & writing5% mention it

What negative reviews complain about

  • Bugs & crashes25% mention it
  • Performance11% mention it

Satisfaction by hours played

Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.

Under 5h

82%

49 reviews

5-15h

90%

82 reviews

15-40h

86%

93 reviews

40-100h

85%

66 reviews

100h+

81%

122 reviews

Review sentiment over time

Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.

How this score was computed

The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.

ComponentPositiveQuality (0-100)Weight (pseudo-reviews)
Press reviews (Metacritic)–796
Creator reviews (1 tracked)–830
All-time Steam reviews89%831829
Metacritic user ratings–4546
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)87%811116
Calibration prior (typical game)–7250

Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Aug 19, 2026) · 300 reviews sampled · 1116 total reviews in window · weighted 191.6 up / 30.4 down · computed 3h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (48)

Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.

  • 50
    Slant MagazineSlant Magazine
    trust 77Aug 27, 2013

    “The disappointing Payday 2 is a sequel in the loosest sense of the word, with minor and unsuccessful updates to the gameplay, hindered with uninspired scenarios and terrible AI.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    GRYOnline.plGRYOnline.pl
    trust 75Oct 9, 2013

    “PayDay 2 is one of the nicest surprises of the year. Overkill Software understands the atmosphere of gangster movies and wisely improves these pieces of gameplay, that might have been disappointing in the first game. The sequel is better in almost every way - you can play a thief and enjoy good character development and shooting systems. I really hope, that PayDay 3 will be even better.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    Joystiq
    trust 71Aug 13, 2013

    “Payday 2 proves that you can't plan for everything. No two jobs, despite being of similar set-up, go down in the same way, and without the help of few friends, you'll never survive long enough to reach that tropical paradise.”

    read full review ↗
  • 90
    EurogamerEurogamer
    trust 66Aug 15, 2013

    “In the end, its faults are only minor, really. This is by far the most engrossing co-operative arcade experience I have had in a while, probably the best since Left 4 Dead 2 came around. Pulling the trigger of a Uzi in close proximity of an enemy is like shoving a rabid Tasmanian devil into someone's face. The guns really feel that exciting and dangerous - one of the key differences between a good shooter and a great one. I have a feeling this one will stay with us for a while.”

    read full review ↗
  • 70
    GameSpotGameSpot
    trust 66Aug 24, 2013

    “Despite the potential pitfalls and the actual flaws of Payday 2, things have a way of coming together.”

    read full review ↗
  • 90
    PC PowerPlay
    trust 64Sep 25, 2013

    “It's not the desire for cash or gold that'll keep you coming back, but the desire to pull off the perfect heist. [Oct 2013, p.94]”

  • 79
    PC GamerPC Gamer
    trust 64Sep 12, 2013

    “Smart co-op shooting slightly undermined by poor stealth mechanics and dogged insistence on withholding the best toys.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    AusGamersAusGamers
    trust 63Aug 15, 2013

    “When things go right and you’re walking out the vault with half a million in unmarked currency, not a cop in sight, Payday 2 is one of the most satisfying co-op games of all time. Yet even when your plans explode in a mess of buckshot and tear gas, it delivers a level of co-op excitement that is hard to find.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    trust 62Sep 9, 2013

    “A clever and stylish co-op shooter that vacuums bank accounts of the game victims, not the gamers. Single player game is basically absent, which is compensated by its dynamic and fairly optimized multiplayer. [Issue#233]”

  • 80
    Quarter to Three
    trust 61Aug 26, 2013

    “The bottom line is that I’m complaining because the action, the gunplay, the visuals, the demanding teamwork, the ultimate sense of gratification from leveling up and mastering the levels are all pretty much unparalleled, even if they could have been situated into a better gameplay structure. Payday 2 is a wonderful shooter that stands alone in a genre full of me-toos, wanna-bes, and coulda-beens.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    IGNIGN
    trust 61Aug 13, 2013

    “Played as intended with a group of friends, PayDay 2 is much like one of its heists: things can get a little sloppy, but the potential payoff is big.”

    read full review ↗
  • 85
    GameFront
    trust 61Aug 13, 2013

    “Don’t even think about taking on hard or above missions all by your lonesome. While your AI companions weren’t the brightest bulbs in the original Payday, they still carried their weight. There were also three of them. This time around, you’re limited to two AI crew members, and they’re about as useful as a pen without ink.”

    read full review ↗

…and 36 more tracked reviews.

Patch history

  1. PAYDAY 2: Update 247.2 Changelog
    Aug 19, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  2. PAYDAY 2: Update 247.1 Changelog
    Aug 14, 2026
  3. PAYDAY 2: Update 247 Changelog
    Aug 13, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  4. PAYDAY 2: Engine Upgrade Open-Beta - OUT NOW!
    Jun 30, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  5. PAYDAY 2: Update 246.1 Changelog
    May 22, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  6. PAYDAY 2: Update 246 Changelog
    May 19, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  7. PAYDAY 2: Update 245 Changelog
    Apr 30, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  8. PAYDAY 2: Update 244.1 Changelog
    Apr 5, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  9. PAYDAY 2: Update 244 Changelog
    Apr 1, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  10. PAYDAY 2: Update 243.1 Changelog
    Mar 5, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  11. PAYDAY 2: Update 243 Changelog
    Feb 20, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  12. PAYDAY 2: 242.2 Hotfix
    Jan 30, 2026
  13. PAYDAY 2: Update 242.1 Changelog
    Jan 29, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  14. PAYDAY 2: Update 242 Changelog
    Dec 18, 2025significant · resets scoring window
  15. PAYDAY 2: Update 241 Changelog
    Oct 23, 2025significant · resets scoring window
  16. PAYDAY 2: Matchmaking Certificate Update
    Oct 1, 2025
  17. PAYDAY 2: 240.7 hotfix
    Sep 13, 2024
  18. PAYDAY 2: 240.6 Maintenance Update
    Sep 12, 2024
  19. PAYDAY 2: Update 240.5 Changelog
    Dec 13, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  20. PAYDAY 2: Update 240.4 Changelog
    Dec 6, 2023
  21. PAYDAY 2: Note for update 240.3
    Nov 29, 2023
  22. PAYDAY 2: Update 240.3 Changelog
    Nov 29, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  23. PAYDAY 2: Update 240.2 Changelog
    Sep 27, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  24. PAYDAY 2: Update 240.1 Changelog
    Sep 15, 2023
  25. PAYDAY 2: Update 240 Changelog
    Sep 13, 2023
  26. PAYDAY 2: Update 239.2 Changelog
    Aug 17, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  27. PAYDAY 2: Update 239.1 Changelog
    Aug 17, 2023
  28. PAYDAY 2: Update 239 Patchnotes
    Aug 16, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  29. PAYDAY 2: Update 238.3 Changelog
    Jul 18, 2023
  30. PAYDAY 2: Lost Tape 3 & The Chinatown Music Pack update
    Jul 18, 2023
  31. PAYDAY 2: Update 238.2 Changelog
    Jul 4, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  32. PAYDAY 2: Update 238.1 Changelog
    Jun 30, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  33. PAYDAY 2: Update 238 Changelog
    Jun 28, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  34. PAYDAY 2: Update 237.3 Changelog
    Jun 22, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  35. PAYDAY 2: Update 237.2 Changelog
    Jun 15, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  36. PAYDAY 2: Update 237.1 Changelog
    Jun 9, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  37. PAYDAY 2: Update 237 Changelog
    Jun 8, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  38. PAYDAY 2: Update 236.1 Changelog
    Apr 28, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  39. PAYDAY 2: Update 236 Changelog
    Apr 26, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  40. PAYDAY 2: Hotfix 235.1 Changelog
    Mar 23, 2023

…and 9 earlier patch announcements.