The PAYDAY 2 Steam Group has reached 4,000,000 members according to a post on the game's Steam Community page.

The announcement of the milestone comes nearly a month after Update 100 which changed how the game's Black Market worked. Previously, players would have to purchase "drills" to open "safes" in a similar fashion to the crate and key system of games such as Team Fortress 2 and CS:GO.

Despite the two respective milestones of 4,000,000 members and the 100th update, the majority of the post discussed the reasoning behind microtransactions as well as why they changed how the system worked.

OVERKILL Software plans for microtransactions were on the back burner for most of the game's development. DLC content was keeping continued development of the game going, but the developers needed to open a new revenue stream in order to continue working on the game. That led to the Black Market update which introduced the "crate and key" system and resulted in a degree of backlash from the community. Despite the backlash, the developers felt that it was the only way the game could continue to survive and viewed it as the lesser of two evils.

The change in how the Black Market works in PAYDAY 2 turned the Steam reviews around for the game. The game has had an "Overwhelmingly Positive" rating in the last 30 days since the change took place.

Towards the end of the post, OVERKILL Software took the time to apologize to their player base:

An Apology Some players seem to think that we haven’t properly apologized for what we did last year. We think it’s important to realize that we can’t be sorry for wanting the best for the game, trying to work on the game and improving it, ensuring its continued development. What we can be sorry for however is the pain we caused to community members who's trust we broke by doing what we did. We apologize. You have helped teach us that there are better ways to release new systems into post-launch development. You have also made it clear on where else we need to improve, like our communications, transparency and more. For this we thank you and hope you accept our apology.



Throughout these past five years of PAYDAY 2 development, there has been one single constant. The unwavering support of our community, and that of our publishing partner 505 Games. Through the years, our players have supported our every decision known and unknown to them. 505 Games has been with us from the beginning of the project, and have been there to support and guide us when we had no other bandwidth than for developing the game. It is in part thanks to 505 Games and their incredible support that PAYDAY 2 is what it is today, and that we now had the opportunity to acquire the full rights and bring the franchise back home. The perfect scenario for any game developer.

If you're interested in grabbing PAYDAY 2 you can buy it on Steam. Both the standard game and the Game of the Year edition are currently discounted at 75% off as part of the 2016 Steam Summer Sale.

Quick Take

To be honest, I was completely turned off from buying PAYDAY 2 after seeing how OVERKILL Software decided to handle microtransactions. Hell, I owned the first game but never got around to playing it and I wasn't too keen on trying anytime soon. However, changing the system to something that's more fair to your average player has led me to reconsider purchasing PAYDAY 2. More importantly, the developers apologizing shows a remarkable amount of respect for their community. It feels genuinely sincere to me and that's rare in the era of bullshots, vertical slices, and press releases. Kudos to the devs for turning things around.

What do you think of the PAYDAY 2 developers apologizing for putting microtransactions into the game? Do you think the changes to the Black Market will do enough to recover any goodwill they may have lost from the community? Let us know in the comments below!