The trailer gives us a glimpse at gameplay across a series of missions. It also provides details about the four playable characters part of a group named the Aces. Players can take on the role of the Ace of Clubs (the ghost), the Ace of Diamonds (the technician), the Ace of Spades (the enforcer), and Ace of Hearts (the mastermind). As you might expect from an entry in the Payday franchise, Aces High offers a mix of stealth and action gameplay. While players will have the option to sneak around, sooner or later, they will trip off an alarm, bringing in hordes of guards that stand between them and their escape routes.

Payday: Aces High will feature an overarching story that revolves around the Aces trying to get revenge on business titan Warren Jupiter, who had previously framed the crew. In their hunt for vengeance, players will have access to plenty of tools and weapons, giving them freedom to plan out their heists in their preferred way. Available weapons will range from pistols and SMGs to shotguns and assault rifles, while equipment will include grappling hooks and sentry guns, among other things.

“For the past 15 years, we’ve admired how Payday lets players jump into scenarios straight out of the wildest Hollywood crime movies and take heists into their own hands,” said Fast Travel Games co-founder and chief creative officer Erik Odeldahl in a press release. “We’re kicking things up to the next level this year with Payday: Aces High – get ready to lock-and-load with up to three other heisters, in the immersion that only VR can bring!”

“Payday is one of the most iconic franchises in gaming, with more than 50 million players worldwide,” said Starbreeze Entertainment CEO Adolf Kristjansson. “Fast Travel Games is a globally respected VR studio with over a decade of VR experience. They are the ideal partner to bring Payday to this platform. With Aces High, we are expanding the Payday universe and inviting players to plan and execute heists together in a fully immersive experience. Under their leadership, Aces High is not just an adaptation. It is a true Payday game built from the ground up for this medium.”

In the meantime, Starbreeze has been facing quite a bit of trouble in its attempts to make Payday 3 more appealing to players. Earlier this year, however, it had been hit by a round of lay-offs, which indicate that these attempts may not be going smoothly. Back in October, the studio had also confirmed that it was no longer working on an offline mode for the co-op shooter. Thankfully, the more popular Payday 2 seems to be largely unaffected, thanks to its development now being handled by Sidetrack Games.

In a press release, CEO Adolf Kristjansson said, “This was a difficult but necessary decision. Our strategy is clear: Payday is one of the most iconic IPs in gaming, with unmatched reach and potential. By focusing our investment and talent here, we can accelerate delivery, engage players with more content, and reinforce Starbreeze’s position as the clear leader in the heisting genre. This is about sharpening our focus to create the strongest long-term value for our players, our people, and our shareholders.”

Alongside a non-cash impairment of SEK 255 million (roughly $27.2 million), Starbreeze is redeploying Project Baxter team members to other projects, “most prominently within Payday.” However, it also confirmed layoffs for about 44 contractors and employees to GameDeveloper, though since the following weeks will see union negotiations, the “exact number” couldn’t be specified.

In development on Unreal Engine 5, Project Baxter hadn’t received a gameplay reveal or official title. It would have been another games-as-a-service title, and then-CEO Tobias Sjogren said it was “hard to imagine a better pairing than Dungeons and Dragons and Starbreeze.”

As for what this means for Payday 3, which has floundered since its launch in September 2023, despite multiple updates and improvements. Starbreeze also faced fresh controversy with its new DLC subscription model and price hike on the Infamous Collection for Payday 2. Stay tuned for updates, as always.

Announcing the deal, Starbreeze board member Thomas Lindgren has commented that it allows the company to accelerate the content roadmap it had planned for the shooter. While no more concrete details about the future of Payday 3 have been revealed as of yet, we will likely see the company announce something for the game once the deal fully comes into effect next week.

“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 Lindgren. “We appreciate Plaion’s support, which underscores their confidence in Starbreeze’ future and strengthens our strategic alignment with major global industry players.”

While a more precise timeline for future Payday 3 hasn’t been confirmed yet, the announcement does note that this also allows Starbreeze to further expand the Payday franchise with “broader business opportunities.” While what the company means by this is unknown, we might see the franchise getting shopped around for adaptations down the line.

As for how Starbreeze financed the move, the company has revealed that, of the SEK 33 million involved in the sale, SEK 29 million will be used to repay Plaion as part of a previous agreement about Payday 3. The directed share issue will also dilute the number of shares by around 9.1 percent, while the number of voting shares will be diluted by around 5.4 percent.

In an earnings report from back in February, Starbreeze had reported losses for the year. However, when it came to projections for the future, the company was quite optimistic. It pointed to a Payday 3 player base that was slowly growing thanks to the game’s inclusion as part of the games offered by subscription service PlayStation Plus.

“At this time of writing, Payday 3 is one of the games of the month on PlayStation Plus, meaning that during February, it will be available for anyone with a Plus subscription to download and play,” said the studio in its report.

“The collaboration with PlayStation will contribute positively to Payday‘s revenue in the first quarter of 2025, but most of all, it is an incredible opportunity to let millions of people try Payday 3 as it is today, after 1.5 years of hard work to improve the game both functionally and content-wise.”

Payday 3 is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more details about the game, check out our review from its launch back in 2023. Interestingly, the studio had said in the past that it would be reducing its investments into Payday 3.

It also pointed to the title being available through PlayStation Plus as an example for how the studio will try growing its player base, referring to the move as “an incredible opportunity”.

“At this time of writing, Payday 3 is one of the games of the month on PlayStation Plus, meaning that during February, it will be available for anyone with a Plus subscription to download and play,” said the studio in its report.

“The collaboration with PlayStation will contribute positively to Payday‘s revenue in the first quarter of 2025, but most of all, it is an incredible opportunity to let millions of people try Payday 3 as it is today, after 1.5 years of hard work to improve the game both functionally and content-wise.”

Starbreeze is also working on collaboration events with titles like PUBG: Battlegrounds and Roblox to develop some sort of Payday-styled experiences in the games.

The company reported annual net sales of SEK 185.9 million (around $17.3 million), down from the SEK 633.5 million ($59.1 million) reported last year. Payday 3 contributed SEK 82.9 million (around $7.7 million) to this throughout the year (compared to the SEK 477 million / $44.5 million from last year), while Payday 2 accounted for SEK 41.8 million ($3.9 million), down from the SEK 139.1 / $13 million from last year. Sales going down resulted in a loss of SEK 199.1 million (around $18.5 million) for the year.

Acting CEO Mats Juhl said that the future of Payday, along with other in-development games like the Dungeons & Dragons game internally titled Project Baxter, will lead Starbreeze to a more successful year. He also emphasises Starbreeze’s third-party publishing efforts for growth in the coming year.

“We have continued to strengthen the Payday brand through collaborations and enhancements while making great progress with Project Baxter and establishing a strong foundation for our third-party publishing,” said Juhl.

“With a balanced risk profile, strong cash position and several ongoing projects approaching important milestones, we look forward to 2025. Our vision to be a leading multi-title studio is more realistic than ever, and we are well positioned to continue building value for our players and owners.”

Interestingly, Starbreeze revealed in a statement from its quarterly earnings report back in November 2024 that it would focus on more player engagement for Payday 3 while also lowering its investments into the co-op shooter.

“The level of investment during Payday 3’s first year on the market, both through launched DLCs and Operation Medic Bag, has been at an elevated level,” said the company at the time. “Ahead of year two, we are confident in being able to continue delivering amounts of value to our players with a significantly lower level of investment.”

Payday 3 was released all the way back in 2023, and is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more details, check out our review from back when the title first launched.

Developed and published by Starbreeze, Project Baxter is developed in Unreal Engine 5 and will feature cooperative multiplayer and games-as-a-service elements. No other details are known, but CEO Tobias Sjogren said in a press release that it’s “hard to imagine a better pairing than Dungeons and Dragons and Starbreeze – both with their foundation in cooperative and community-driven experiences, ‘play it your way’ and infinite replayability.

“When looking at prospective IPs for our future projects, Dungeons and Dragons was always at the top of our list, and I’m incredibly happy to announce this license. I want to thank Wizards of the Coast for being such a great partner. Development of the game is in full swing, and we are excited to deliver an amazing Dungeons and Dragons action adventure in 2026,” he added.

Eugene Evans, senior VP of digital strategy and licensing at Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro said, “Dungeons and Dragons is having an extraordinary year. Our gaming brands, including Dungeons and Dragons, continue to attract great partners as we execute our plan to grow our digital games portfolio through licensing and development. Our collaboration with Starbreeze is a prime illustration of this strategy. Given their impressive games and passion for Dungeons and Dragons, we are confident they will create an experience that will delight fans worldwide.”

This announcement is interesting when considering Starbreeze’s other projects, notably Payday 3. The co-op heist shooter launched in September to a mixed response and recently received new features and Legacy Heists. It’s also prepping for its first major story DLC Syntax Error. Whether Project Baxter will also fall under the team’s purview remains to be seen. Stay tuned for more details and updates in the meantime.