Significant Upgrades Ahead for Payday 2
In a notable transition, Starbreeze entrusted the ongoing support of Payday 2 to Sidetrack Games nine months ago, allowing the original developers to concentrate on the ambitious development of Payday 3. The decision has proven fruitful, as Payday 2 continues to attract impressive player numbers, consistently reaching peaks of 30,000 on Steam, while its successor grapples to maintain a mere 1,000 players. Rather than resting on their laurels, Sidetrack is gearing up for a substantial overhaul, migrating the beloved heist shooter to a new engine that promises smoother gameplay and a significantly reduced file size.
Sidetrack Games has inherited a well-loved title, with over a decade of development history behind it. Now, as Payday 2 approaches its 13th anniversary, the new custodians are committed to revitalizing the game with a comprehensive under-the-hood transformation. Lead Engine and Tools Developer Leon Theodoridis has confirmed that the much-anticipated transition to a 64-bit engine is indeed in the works, with an open beta scheduled to commence at the end of June.
“We’ve seen all your comments, and they’ve been bugging us for quite a while,” Theodoridis remarked with a smile. “You guys have practically been begging us to port the engine to 64-bit, reduce the game’s file size, as well as make it run better in general on more modern hardware. Now, after nine months of development on Payday 2 at Sidetrack Games, I am finally able to share what we’ve been working on for so long.”
The forthcoming “massive engine upgrade,” dubbed Diesel 3.0, represents a complete rewrite of the game’s code base. While some improvements may not be immediately visible, players can expect to reap the benefits of this extensive update. The most significant change is the transition to a modern 64-bit architecture, which aims to eliminate the frustrating out-of-memory crashes that have plagued players for years. Theodoridis described this shift as “by far one of the biggest requests over the last ten years.” Additionally, the rendering system will be upgraded from DX9 to DX11, which, while not enhancing visual fidelity, will significantly reduce texture memory usage on graphics cards—particularly advantageous for those utilizing older hardware.
Implementing these changes necessitates a complete re-download of the game, prompting Sidetrack to take the opportunity to overhaul the game’s packaging and bundling system. This revamp results in a remarkable reduction in install size, shrinking from 86 GB to just 32 GB—a staggering 63% decrease. For players not currently using an SSD, Theodoridis recommends upgrading, as the faster loading times will enhance the overall experience.
The Payday 2 Diesel 3.0 open beta begins on Tuesday, June 30, and will run until the end of July. Detailed instructions on how to participate will be shared at launch, with players likely able to join through the ‘game versions and betas’ tab in the properties menu within their Steam library.
However, there is a minor caveat to consider. “With such a substantial engine change, sadly it’s inevitable that some mods will break,” Theodoridis acknowledged. “During the beta period, we encourage modders to try and repair what can be repaired, and we will be there to help out with new file formats where we can.” While this may pose a challenge for some, the anticipated enhancements are likely to make the effort worthwhile for the majority of players.
Payday 2’s next update is “a massive undertaking” to modernize the FPS, stop crashes, and cut its install size by 60%
Significant Upgrades Ahead for Payday 2
In a notable transition, Starbreeze entrusted the ongoing support of Payday 2 to Sidetrack Games nine months ago, allowing the original developers to concentrate on the ambitious development of Payday 3. The decision has proven fruitful, as Payday 2 continues to attract impressive player numbers, consistently reaching peaks of 30,000 on Steam, while its successor grapples to maintain a mere 1,000 players. Rather than resting on their laurels, Sidetrack is gearing up for a substantial overhaul, migrating the beloved heist shooter to a new engine that promises smoother gameplay and a significantly reduced file size.
Sidetrack Games has inherited a well-loved title, with over a decade of development history behind it. Now, as Payday 2 approaches its 13th anniversary, the new custodians are committed to revitalizing the game with a comprehensive under-the-hood transformation. Lead Engine and Tools Developer Leon Theodoridis has confirmed that the much-anticipated transition to a 64-bit engine is indeed in the works, with an open beta scheduled to commence at the end of June.
“We’ve seen all your comments, and they’ve been bugging us for quite a while,” Theodoridis remarked with a smile. “You guys have practically been begging us to port the engine to 64-bit, reduce the game’s file size, as well as make it run better in general on more modern hardware. Now, after nine months of development on Payday 2 at Sidetrack Games, I am finally able to share what we’ve been working on for so long.”
The forthcoming “massive engine upgrade,” dubbed Diesel 3.0, represents a complete rewrite of the game’s code base. While some improvements may not be immediately visible, players can expect to reap the benefits of this extensive update. The most significant change is the transition to a modern 64-bit architecture, which aims to eliminate the frustrating out-of-memory crashes that have plagued players for years. Theodoridis described this shift as “by far one of the biggest requests over the last ten years.” Additionally, the rendering system will be upgraded from DX9 to DX11, which, while not enhancing visual fidelity, will significantly reduce texture memory usage on graphics cards—particularly advantageous for those utilizing older hardware.
Implementing these changes necessitates a complete re-download of the game, prompting Sidetrack to take the opportunity to overhaul the game’s packaging and bundling system. This revamp results in a remarkable reduction in install size, shrinking from 86 GB to just 32 GB—a staggering 63% decrease. For players not currently using an SSD, Theodoridis recommends upgrading, as the faster loading times will enhance the overall experience.
The Payday 2 Diesel 3.0 open beta begins on Tuesday, June 30, and will run until the end of July. Detailed instructions on how to participate will be shared at launch, with players likely able to join through the ‘game versions and betas’ tab in the properties menu within their Steam library.
However, there is a minor caveat to consider. “With such a substantial engine change, sadly it’s inevitable that some mods will break,” Theodoridis acknowledged. “During the beta period, we encourage modders to try and repair what can be repaired, and we will be there to help out with new file formats where we can.” While this may pose a challenge for some, the anticipated enhancements are likely to make the effort worthwhile for the majority of players.