Payday 3 devs spoke to real bank robbers to help get into the mind of a criminal

Sometimes to garner the utmost authenticity, you have to get inside the mind of those that have lived the life.

What I'm trying to say is, the Payday 3 devs didn't exactly want to commit a crime just for the sake of research, but they did speak to real life robbers instead. We recently went hands-on with Payday 3 and had the opportunity to sit down and chat with its global brand director Almir Listo.

Take a look at the game in action below.

Rather than robbing a bank themselves, the developers of Payday 3 spoke to real bank robbers to help get into the mind of a criminal. We asked Listo about the process of crafting such an authentic experience. He explained, "One of our characters is an actual [former] bank robber. We definitely have been out and about talking to various people who are involved on both sides of the law.”

Listo went on to explain how the developers visited the L. A Police Department to gather additional intel on the right side of the law. In particular how the LAPD would respond and handle criminals of the heist variety. “All of those experiences help us make Payday into a believable fantasy and fulfilling experience. That's what it's all about,” he continued. “It’s not necessarily [about] looking at a specific movie and trying to emulate exactly that,” implying that varied insights helped to shape what the Payday series is all about.

In our preview of Payday 3, we said that it “raises the stakes in every way. Rushing out of a bank with a huge duffel bag full of Benjamins while intense music vibrates your eardrums never gets old (in the game, of course…).”

Elsewhere in the interview, Almir Listo also spoke about his dream Payday 3 collaborations which include John McClane of Die Hard and The Dark Knight himself, Batman.

Developed by Overkill Software and Starbreeze Studios, Payday 3 will be released on 21 September 2023 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. What’s more, it will support cross-play for all available platforms. Oh, and it will also launch day one on Xbox Game Pass.