Starbreeze Reverses Payday 2 DLC Price Hike After Fan Backlash
▼ Summary
– Starbreeze launched a $5 monthly subscription for all Payday 2 DLC, which was seen as a good deal.
– Shortly before the subscription launch, the price of the Infamous Collection bundle of DLC increased significantly from $118 to $170.
– The price hike led to player accusations that Starbreeze was trying to push users toward the subscription service.
– Starbreeze admitted the timing was an “unfortunate” mistake and a failure in communication, restoring the original bundle price.
– The company needs to maintain goodwill with Payday 2’s large player base, as Payday 3 has a much smaller current player count.
Following a swift and vocal reaction from its player community, Starbreeze has reversed a controversial price increase for the Payday 2 Infamous Collection. The decision comes just a day after the company introduced a new monthly subscription service for the game’s downloadable content. The situation highlights the delicate balance developers must maintain when introducing new monetization strategies for long-running titles.
The controversy began when Starbreeze launched a subscription service offering access to all Payday 2 DLC for five dollars per month. While this new option was generally seen as a good value, it also drew attention to a recent and significant price hike for the Infamous Collection, a bundle allowing players to own all DLC permanently. The bundle’s price had jumped from $118 to $170 just weeks before the subscription’s debut, leading many to believe it was a deliberate move to make the subscription appear more attractive.
Gustav Nisser, Starbreeze’s head of commercial, stated that the timing was purely coincidental and an “unfortunate” mistake. He admitted the studio had “dropped the ball” on communication. Faced with clear and widespread dissatisfaction, the company has now reverted the Infamous Collection to its original discount level.
Nisser explained that the price adjustment was part of a routine pricing review. The discount was reduced from 52% to 33% because the original discount was considered “a bit too steep,” especially when combined with other potential sales. However, he acknowledged that the lack of advance notice was a critical error, creating the perception of an underhanded tactic. “The community has been pretty clear about how it looks next to the subscription launch, and they’re not wrong, it’s terrible timing,” Nisser told PC Gamer.
He emphasized that the proximity to the subscription launch was unintentional. “If we had realized the change would be happening so close to the subscription launch, we wouldn’t have done it,” he said, conceding failures in both internal coordination and community outreach. The company is now apologizing to its players in hopes they will accept it was an honest mishap.
This incident is particularly sensitive for Starbreeze. Payday 2 continues to be a major success, consistently drawing tens of thousands of concurrent players on Steam more than a decade after its release. In stark contrast, its successor, Payday 3, is currently struggling with a peak concurrent player count of just over 500. Keeping the Payday 2 community happy is not just a matter of goodwill; it is a business necessity for the studio as it works to improve its newer title. Antagonizing the dedicated fanbase that sustains the older game is a risk the company clearly cannot afford to take.
(Source: PC Gamer)
