Starbreeze Introduces Payday 2 Subscription That Lets You Access Almost Every DLC for $5/Month
Starbreeze Entertainment is celebrating the fourteenth anniversary of the Payday series, though the milestone comes at a complicated time for the franchise. Two years ago, on September 21, 2023, the studio released Payday 3, which was meant to push the series forward with improved stealth mechanics and upgraded visuals. However, its launch was marred by server instability, the lack of an offline mode, and a drastic shortage of content compared to its predecessor. Even now, the game struggles to find its footing. Looking at player data on Steam for Payday 2, thousands of active players continue enjoying its enormous library of downloadable content, while Payday 3’s Steam charts show that the newer entry rarely manages to reach 1,000 concurrent users on a consistent basis.
As part of today’s anniversary celebrations, shared on X, Starbreeze announced two major updates. Firstly, it will overhaul the skill system in Payday 3, with a preview already available on the official Payday website as the studio continues to shape the title into something closer to what longtime fans want. Secondly, Starbreeze is turning its attention back to Payday 2, introducing a new subscription service for nearly all of its sixty-five-plus DLCs.
Happy Birthday, PAYDAY!🎉🎉🎉 We're celebrating 14 years of PAYDAY with some surprises throughout these coming 2 weeks (especially on October 2nd👀), so get ready to learn more, see more, and feel more! pic.twitter.com/zX84fDr8z2
— PAYDAY 3 (@PAYDAYGame) September 22, 2025
The subscription, available now through Steam, costs five dollars a month and grants access to the majority of DLC released for the game, though it excludes any content that has been retired or permanently removed. Starbreeze explained that the intent was to simplify what has become an overwhelming DLC catalog for new players, offering an easy way to enjoy everything at a low recurring cost rather than deciding between dozens of individual packs. It is important to note, however, that the subscription does not include the base game, which still needs to be purchased separately.
At face value, this sounds like a reasonable offer, but veteran players quickly pointed out that Payday 2’s DLC bundles frequently go on sale. Collections such as the Legacy Collection and the Infamous Collection, which include nearly all of the game’s content, are regularly discounted by twenty to thirty percent. For anyone willing to wait for one of these sales, the long-term cost of owning all DLC outright is often cheaper than paying month after month for a subscription. Unsurprisingly, community feedback has been skeptical, with Reddit discussions highlighting the sentiment that “not everything needs to be a subscription.”
Starbreeze is not alone in testing this type of service. Other titles, such as Cities: Skylines, Crusader Kings II, and Train Simulator Classic, also offer DLC subscriptions to make navigating large libraries more manageable. Whether Starbreeze’s attempt will succeed in keeping interest in Payday 2 alive while giving the studio breathing room to improve Payday 3 remains to be seen, but what is clear is that Payday 2 remains the crown jewel of the franchise more than a decade after its launch.
Do you think DLC subscriptions like this are a good idea for older games with massive content libraries, or do you prefer to own the content outright during sales?
