Nine months after taking the reins from original developer Starbreeze, Sidetrack Games is preparing to overhaul Payday 2. While the heist shooter's successor, Payday 3, has struggled to maintain a consistent player base, Payday 2 remains a staple for co-op fans, frequently seeing 30,000-player peaks on Steam. Now, the new development team is addressing long-standing technical requests with a shift to a new engine architecture: Diesel 3.0.
- Update Name: Diesel 3.0 Engine Upgrade
- Beta Start Date: June 30, 2026
- Install Size Reduction: 86 GB to 32 GB
- Key Tech Changes: 64-bit architecture, DX9 to DX11 transition
A Under-the-Hood Makeover
Lead Engine and Tools Developer Leon Theodoridis confirmed that the team has been working on this rewrite for the entirety of their nine-month tenure. The most significant change is the transition to a 64-bit engine, a move intended to eliminate the out-of-memory crashes that have plagued the game for years. Additionally, the rendering pipeline is moving from DX9 to DX11. Theodoridis notes that while this won't visually change the game, it will significantly lower texture memory usage on graphics cards, aiding performance on older hardware.
Because the update involves such a deep rewrite of the code base, players will be required to re-download the entire game. Sidetrack Games is using this as an opportunity to reorganize the game's file structure. By revamping the packaging and bundling system, the installation footprint will drop from 86 GB to 32 GB. Theodoridis recommends that players install the game on an SSD to take advantage of the faster loading times made possible by this new structure.
Beta Access and Modding Impact
The Diesel 3.0 open beta kicks off on Tuesday, June 30, and will continue through the end of July. Players looking to participate should keep an eye on the properties menu within their Steam library, specifically the 'game versions and betas' tab, for access details once the beta goes live.
There is a catch for the dedicated community: the engine overhaul is expected to break many existing mods. Sidetrack Games has stated they will assist modders by providing information on new file formats where possible, but they acknowledge that a period of adjustment will be necessary for the modding scene to catch up to the new architecture.
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