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PAYDAY™ The Heist
Take on the role of a hardened career criminal executing intense, dynamic heists in constant pursuit of the next “big score”
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.
What reviewers agree on
34 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“this game feels really weird if youre used to payday 2, but its also kinda refreshing and cool seeing how different, yet similar this game is to its successor.”
13 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Overkill 145+ is the point in the game where you know ♥♥♥♥ just got real”
“Now let me start this review off with what should be important: You get your payday, on a Friday... In this game? EVERY DAY. Nothing feels better in this world, than buying this game AND in the same day beating a heist…”
12 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Here’s a mechanics-focused, Steam-style review for PAYDAY™: The Heist: PAYDAY: The Heist stands out because its mechanics turn every job into a tactically intense co-op scenario where planning, positioning, and team…”
“I remember the simpler times when I had to beg my friends to put down Call of Duty for just an hour to try something new. Payday: The Heist was one of those games. Back then, PlayStation didn’t really have any 4-player…”
“If you're into playing horde shooters with your friends, this game is definitely for you. And even if you don't have friends, this game somehow keeps a loyal and stable playerbase. You might think it's overshadowed by…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“cool soundtrack”
“greatest franchise OAT (IMO) started at this very game Its way different to its successors PAYDAY 2 and PAYDAY 3 as it has some different mechanics and a different progression system which I think is really good and you…”
“Now let me start this review off with what should be important: You get your payday, on a Friday... In this game? EVERY DAY. Nothing feels better in this world, than buying this game AND in the same day beating a heist…”
4 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“greatest franchise OAT (IMO) started at this very game Its way different to its successors PAYDAY 2 and PAYDAY 3 as it has some different mechanics and a different progression system which I think is really good and you…”
“this game had very good animations of npcs, nice and smooth objectives but the game looks like if left 4 dead 2 and payday 2 was combined, also the reloading animation is not very smooth and not very easy for the…”
“this game is fun all of it's heists are fun, its mechanics are enjoyable, its online, its story you can even play it alone as an offline mode, but one thing i noticed is that the leveling system is way slower than…”
7 of the 103 reviews raise this · 6 of them still recommend the game.
“buy it if you're corious, but it's like playing an old, way harder payday2 demo”
“This game was super hard the cops are OP and my online teamates sucked you're gonna do all the work if you're a pro player good thing they have great A.i Teammates but I wanna play online this game lacks content…”
“What this game lacks in content and customization it makes up for in atmosphere and genuinely challenging and engaging heists. As fun of a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ payday 2 is, it's exactly that, a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, Payday: The Heist…”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 6 of them still recommend the game.
“If you're into playing horde shooters with your friends, this game is definitely for you. And even if you don't have friends, this game somehow keeps a loyal and stable playerbase. You might think it's overshadowed by…”
“Now let me start this review off with what should be important: You get your payday, on a Friday... In this game? EVERY DAY. Nothing feels better in this world, than buying this game AND in the same day beating a heist…”
“It's buggy. It's messy. It's Payday”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“Idioti movements of bots. No possibility to go full stealth. Felt like playing Left 4 Dead :D Never recommending this s*** to anyone.”
“I remember the simpler times when I had to beg my friends to put down Call of Duty for just an hour to try something new. Payday: The Heist was one of those games. Back then, PlayStation didn’t really have any 4-player…”
“This is a game that has nothing much to show. It's entirely dependent on people making their own fun in multiplayer rather than the game itself being fun. It's just monotonous with the same enemies, crappy dialogue and…”
4 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“buy it if you're corious, but it's like playing an old, way harder payday2 demo”
“This game was super hard the cops are OP and my online teamates sucked you're gonna do all the work if you're a pro player good thing they have great A.i Teammates but I wanna play online this game lacks content…”
“This game is hard as hell, but it's still really fun most of the time. Check it out if you can!”
4 of the 103 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
“This is a game that has nothing much to show. It's entirely dependent on people making their own fun in multiplayer rather than the game itself being fun. It's just monotonous with the same enemies, crappy dialogue and…”
“Very dated game now, only grab it on a steep steep sale, if you want to see what the original Payday was like. The sequel Payday 2 is the best in the series. For example, I got this for like £0.80 to sample what the…”
“PAYDAY™ The Heist has its advantages: for example, the last stealth mission is really good and is more memorable than the rest of the content. Plus, it's a pleasant surprise that the game works well on Linux without any…”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 93.4% positive rating · as of 2026-05-20
“Payday: The Heist is fifteen years old this year, and it's still possibly one of the greatest horde shooters of all time. That includes some fierce modern competition: Helldivers, Killing Floor, and even its own sequels. None can quite beat the first Payday. The gunplay is…”
— a player, Steam review · 112 hrs played“Old but gold! Honestly I find the graphics of this game still good, playing on a 2560x1440 Monitor at 124fps. What I do recommend though is the DAHM mod, the best mod out there, which includes like 20-30 sub mods already. With it, you upgrade the game to make it much more…”
— a player, Steam review · 77 hrs played“Despite being heavily overshadowed by its more populair younger brother, Payday The Heist still holds up great! Just like comparing L4D1 to L4D2, PD:TH has kept its original intended atmosphere and hasn't been muddied by constant updates. This game feels and plays exactly as…”
— a player, Steam review · 44 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 11:44 UTC · history via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-07-25.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-07-24). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
PAYDAY Steam Summer Sale
The sun is baking, the birds are singing, and Wolf is taking a well-deserved avkoppling in the garden. That can only mean one thing: It's time for the PAYDAY Steam Summer Sale!ːcashpd3ː Get PAYDAY: Th
New Regional and Simplified Pricing of PAYDAY Games and DLCs
Hey Heisters,We have an update on pricing across PAYDAY The Heist, PAYDAY 2, and PAYDAY 3.Starting on April 14th on Steam, with other PC and console platforms to follow, we are introducing a new globa
PAYDAY Winter Sale Now On!
It’s time to get together with your friends and play PAYDAY this holiday season!The holidays should be enjoyed with a classic heist game.Go back to where it all began with 67% off the base game and 50
PAYDAY Franchise Sale
The PAYDAY Trilogy is ON SALE now - don’t miss the heist of the century!Haven’t yet walked the mean streets of PAYDAY? Now’s your chance to suit up, break in, and get away clean… for a killer price. A
PAYDAY: The Heist Discounts for the Steam Summer Sale
Heisters!The summer is heating up here in Sweden, and the Steam Summer Sale is now kicking off with sizzling discounts on a whole lot of games. PAYDAY: The Heist is of course one of them, with the fol
Games like PAYDAY™ The Heist
From our knowledge graph — ranked by shared traits, not a black box. Each card says why it's here.
PAYDAY 2
86.6% · 269,195 reviews
shares Heist, Crime, Team Based, Stealth
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas 2
83.9% · 4,005 reviews
shares Team Based, Stealth, Online Co Op, Tactical
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2
70.2% · 5,466 reviews
shares Stealth, Online Co Op, Tactical, FPS
Insurgency
91.9% · 52,814 reviews
shares Team Based, Online Co Op, Tactical, FPS
Sanctum
90.1% · 2,215 reviews
shares Online Co Op, Tactical, Great Soundtrack, FPS
Sneak Thief
71.6% · 1,059 reviews
shares Heist, Crime, Stealth, FPS
One-armed robber
90.6% · 20,467 reviews
shares Heist, Stealth, Tactical, FPS
Zero Hour
77.2% · 19,271 reviews
shares Team Based, Stealth, Online Co Op, Tactical
Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.
| Genres | Action |
| Player tags | FPS · Action · Co-op · Heist · Multiplayer · Crime · Online Co-Op · Shooter · First-Person · Great Soundtrack · Team-Based · Stealth (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · Co-op · Online Co-op · Steam Achievements · Steam Trading Cards · Custom Volume Controls · Adjustable Difficulty |
| Languages | English * , French, German, Italian, Spanish - Spain * |
| Achievements | 56 |
| Estimated owners | 2,000,000 – 5,000,000 (SteamSpy) |
| Official site | https://www.paydaythegame.com/theheist/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
OS *: Windows XP, Vista, 7 Processor: P4 3 GHz or Athlon 3400+ Memory: 1 GB Ram Video Card: NVIDIA 7800GTX or ATI x1900