Prior to the launch of Payday 2 all the way back in 2013, developer Overkill Software remained adamant that it would refrain from introducing any form of micro-transactions for fear of upsetting its passionate install base. How and ever, the shooter’s recent Black Market update introduced optional in-game purchases much to the dismay of its core audience.
In response to the backlash, the studio recently hosted a Reddit AMA addressing many of the concerns surrounding the new-fangled and controversial feature, essentially deeming the introduction of micro-transactions a financial reality. Here, Overkill provides a candid explanation.
“Since we released Payday 2 back in 2013, the Overkill crew working on the project has more than tripled in size,” he explained. “As our ambition for post-launch has grown, we’ve hired more people to help us make it happen.
“Two years ago people would have us instantly start work on Payday 3, right after we released Payday 2, like developers usually do. Instead, we decided to continue work on Payday 2, because we wanted to make it an incredible co-op experience.”
Further in the post, the dev touched based on its partnership with 505 Games, the publisher behind Payday 2. As mentioned, rather than push on with a threequel, both parties have mapped out preliminary plans for DLC and map packs up until 2017, and in order to supplement that vision, Overkill required an extra means of income beyond the dwindling base price of the shooter itself.
Despite the vitriolic backlash from certain portions of the community, according to the studio, the in-game purchases are already being embraced.
“We understand that there is a lot of fury, anger, and disappointment with us adding this. From an economical standpoint however, completely based on statistics, we can already see that the Black Market update is working as we intended.”
Payday 2 released in 2013 to much fanfare, and you can delve into the minutia of the studio’s assessment via Reddit.