Sidetrack Games has just come out with an announcement on Steam, confirming that the popular heist-based co-op stealth title is getting an engine upgrade that will modernize it for current-gen hardware and make everything it has to offer even better in the process. It’s been a while, but you might remember that we found a lot to like about this one back in the day, and the news that it’s getting a fresh lease of life is definitely welcome.

What will the upgrade entail? Well, it includes support for 64-bit systems, for starters. Aside from that, it’s leaving DirectX 9 behind in favor of DirectX 11, reducing the file size to around 32 GB whilst improving load times on SSDs, bringing 6-character lobby codes, and more changes that Sidetrack’s staying mum about until June 30th.

That’s because it’s hosting an open beta on Steam till the end of July to iron out potential bugs and ensure that the game does what it does best without any unforeseen problems. If only that had been the case with its sequel, but it is what it is. We must say that the timing on this one is pretty great, as the wait for more information isn’t too long. Expect to hear more from us about this one pretty soon.

The studio originated out of the modding community for the Payday games, and have previously worked on titles like RAID: World War 2. Starbreeze Studios has praised Sidetrack Games’ ability to offer post-launch support for titles over a long period of time, as well as the fact that the team is already familiar with the engine powering Payday 2.

“Sidetrack (formerly known as the M.U.G. Team) is a talented team with deep roots in the Payday modding community,” said Starbreeze in its announcement. “Their work on RAID: World War II showed that they have the skill and perseverance to deliver quality updates over a long time. They know the Payday 2 engine inside and out, and they’ve already gotten started.”

The first update as part of this hand-off is slated for release on October 23, and will focus on stability and general improvements for Payday 2. More precise details about the update will likely become more available as part of a larger set of patch notes alongside the update itself.

As a result of this move, Starbreeze Studios has stated that it intends to “maintain full focus on Payday 3, while Payday 2 continues to deliver value for all players with the dedicated expert support they deserve.”

The announcement comes a few months after Starbreeze Studios announced that it had fully acquired the publishing rights for Payday 3 from Plaion. According to its announcement from back in May, the transaction involved a directed share issue of over 147 million of its class be shares valued at SEK 33 million, which in turn were picked up by Embracer Group for SEK 0.2235 per share. The studio had said at the time that its acquisition of the publishing rights for Payday 3 would allow it more freedom to accelerate its development roadmap for the title.

“This agreement enables Starbreeze to fully acquire the publishing rights to Payday 3 from Plaion, significantly accelerate our content development roadmap, and pursue broader strategic opportunities for the Payday franchise as a whole,” said studio board member Thomas Lindgren. “We appreciate Plaion’s support, which underscores their confidence in Starbreeze’ future and strengthens our strategic alignment with major global industry players.”

More recently, Starbreeze Studios had also announced that it was halting development of the much-requested offline mode for Payday 3, with community manager Elisabeth Elvestad and general manager Jonas Skantz referring to the feature as “not feasible”.

“So, offline mode. Let’s talk about that,” they said in a livestream. “I know that the team had good intentions with that, definitely. And they have been trying to make it happen, but I think we have to face the reality that it is not feasible for where we are going with the game.”

Payday 3 is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more details, check out our thoughts on the fall of Payday 3.