A new trailer for Starbreeze's long-awaited Payday threequel premiered at today's Xbox Games Showcase, and we finally have a proper release date: September 21.

If you'd asked this heisting novice I might've guessed it was a trailer for a Payday 2 expansion, but I reckon that means Starbreeze is on [[link]] the right track with Payday 3: it's got AKs, riot shields, gun skins, and the returning cast of masked thieves from the first two games (Dallas, Chains, Hoxton and Wolf).

"Ripped from their peaceful retirement to rejoin the criminal world by a new threat, one born from the chaos the Crew left in their wake," reads the Steam page.

Someone with a sharper eye could [[link]] identify more significant additions, but it seems to greatly improve moevement, with both sliding and vaulting being shown. You can also now hold guards and use them as a shield, with one scene showing the hostage being deposited outside (a trade-off for mor time perhaps?). Finally the close shows a bulldozer rushing in, which is definitely a heavy new addition.

The improvements aside, even if Payday 3 is just a new and improved Payday 2 in New York City instead of Washington DC, that's probably exactly what longtime players are hungry for, right? New banks to heist, routes to master, a fresh arsenal of guns, and lots of cosmetics.

If there's one thing you can count on, it's that it'll be well-supported. Starbreeze produced [[link]] dozens of DLC packs for Payday 2 over 10 years, transforming it over time with seasonal releases and new missions. It was basically a live service game before that was a thing, and now that it is a thing, it'll be interesting to see how Starbreeze handles the future of Payday 3. Full-on expansions? Battle passes? Hopefully not loot boxes.

Here's hoping Payday 3 will be a salve for what's been a rough going lately for co-op shooters. Redfall was obviously a big mess, and Overwatch 2 players are still pissed that Blizzard cancelled most of its co-op plans.

Payday joins one other promising co-op shooter to emerge from Summer Game Fest—a zombie FPS called Toxic Commando from legendary director John Carpenter and the team that made 2019's World War Z.