Payday 2 launched in 2013 and still draws over 30,000 concurrent daily players, showing its lasting popularity. Thirteen years later, developer Overkill announced the official launch of the V3 game engine for the main Payday 2 branch, marking a major technical upgrade.

Diesel Engine V3 adds a 64‑bit architecture, DirectX 11 support, improved CPU utilization for modern multithreaded processors, reduced install size, faster loading times, and native VR capability that eliminates the need for separate EXE files for flatscreen and VR. The update also adds native VR support and in‑game voice chat via Epic Online Services, updated localization commands, and refined UI elements such as a shorter lobby code.

The major trade‑off is the loss of the native Linux build; Overkill’s migration guide instructs Linux users to move their profiles by manually copying files to the Windows install directory, relying on Valve’s Proton translation layer for compatibility. The guide, though not elegant, provides clear instructions.

The full Update 247 changelog details numerous fixes, including crash prevention, enhanced hit detection for the Tag Team perk, improved mouse input, PlayStation 4 controller support, and various heist, weapon, and gameplay adjustments.