Payday 2 Gets Major Engine Upgrade With Open Beta Starting June 30
The Diesel 3.0 upgrade addresses long-standing community complaints about crashes and bloat, and the open beta gives players a chance to test the overhaul before a full rollout.
Key Facts
- Sidetrack Games, which took over Payday 2 development in October 2025, announced Diesel 3.0, an engine upgrade adding 64-bit support and moving from DirectX 9 to DirectX 11.
- The upgrade reduces Payday 2's install size from 86GB to 32GB and brings faster SSD load times and six-character lobby codes.
- An open beta for the Diesel 3.0 upgrade on Steam runs from June 30 through the end of July.
- Lead engine tools developer Leon detailed the changes in a YouTube video.
- Sidetrack Games said it will support mod compatibility with the new file format as much as possible.
Reporting from 2 sources: Automaton, Game Spark.
Sidetrack Games, which took over Payday 2 last October, announced a major engine upgrade called Diesel 3.0. The upgrade adds 64-bit support, moves from DirectX 9 to DirectX 11, and reduces the game's file size from 86GB to 32GB. An open beta for Steam users runs from June 30 through the end of July.
Payday 2 is getting a substantial engine overhaul. Sidetrack Games, which took over development of the heist FPS in October 2025, announced Diesel 3.0, an engine upgrade that adds 64-bit support, migrates from DirectX 9 to DirectX 11, and cuts the game's install size from 86GB to 32GB. Lead engine tools developer Leon detailed the changes in a YouTube video. The upgrade also brings faster SSD load times and six-character lobby codes. An open beta for Steam users begins June 30 and runs through the end of July. Sidetrack Games said it will support mod compatibility with the new file format as much as possible.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.