Console gamers are second-class citizens when it comes to Overkill Software’s co-operative shooter Payday 2, but that’s going to change.
Producer Almir Listo took to Reddit to apologize for a lack of communication with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players who are frustrated by the regular updates that PC owners are getting. At present, a ton of additional downloadable content — including heists, characters, and weapons — hasn’t filtered through to either console version, and Xbox One players are additionally struggling with the matchmaking system.
Payday 2, first released on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC back in 2013 before heading to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this summer, even has a dedicated Facebook page addressing the neglect of console players — it’s called Overkill Ignores Consoles. “They seem to ignore most people on Twitter,” said one poster. “I’ve asked several times on Twitter about DLC on PS4/Xbox One — not heard a single thing since. Even if they respond to people asking about DLC, they just say, ‘It’s coming.'”
Listo has now moved to placate these frustrated players by offering a solution going forward. “We want to apologize for our lack of communication with the status on both platforms — Xbox One and PS4,” he said. “You deserve to get updates on a more regular basis, and we understand it’s frustrating to see the PC version of the game getting update after update while you wait to know what’s going on.”
Listo says that Overkill will provide regular written updates from now on, and it’s currently reviewing how much content to include in the first console update.
“Our ambition is that you will get all the content that the PC version has [eventually], but because we have to make builds and submit them to each platform, we have to do a cut-off at some point,” he said.
Meanwhile, Overkill is remaking the broken matchmaking system on Xbox One, which will simplify the way that players team up. It’s expected to arrive by the end of the year (and hopefully sooner).
“This is a solution that is built from the ground up as the previous matchmaking system we have for PS4 and PC doesn’t work well with your platform,” said Listo. “Right now, this is our No. 1 priority. Our ambition is to go live with the new matchmaking system and additional fixes within the coming weeks and no later than the end of the year. Does that mean that we want to release it on 31st of December? Absolutely not — we want to get it done ASAP.”