PAYDAY 2 similar games & best alternatives

PAYDAY 2 - Trailer
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PAYDAY 2

PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch • 2013

Should you play it?

PAYDAY 2 is an action-packed, four-player co-op shooter that once again lets gamers don the masks of the original PAYDAY crew - Dallas, Hoxton, Wolf and Chains - as they descend on Washington DC for an epic crime spree.

What works

  • Highly addictive cooperative gameplay
  • Extensive weapon and skill customization
  • Strong replayability with randomized maps
  • Active modding community
  • Good value with frequent sales

Things to keep in mind

  • Steep difficulty curve and learning curve
  • Large number of paid dlcs
  • Occasional bugs and technical issues
  • Toxic player behavior in public matches
  • Server and connectivity problems

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Killing Floor 2

  • Sven Co-op

  • School 666

  • SURV1V3

  • Killing Floor

  • PAYDAY™ The Heist

More competitive

Games that feels like PAYDAY 2 but with more competition against others

  • Counter-Strike: Source

  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege

  • Breachers™

  • Half-Life 2: Deathmatch

  • Marathon

  • Rogue Company

Less expressive

Games that feels like PAYDAY 2 but with less self-expression and customization

  • Sneak Thief

  • Escape the Backrooms

  • Clandestine

  • Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death

  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory®

  • Left 4 Dead

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with PAYDAY 2. Swipe sideways to move between games. Titles already listed in What to play next are left out.

  • Cover and title: open that game’s page.
  • What works / keep in mind: the same highlights as the desktop comparison panel.
  • Bars: the main motivational differences versus this game.
How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Swipe to compare nearby games with PAYDAY 2. These titles are not in What to play next.

PAYDAY 2: A very typical example of its motivational profile. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Cooperation, Fellowship, Intimacy, Leadership. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Status, Violence, Cooperation.

Last update: 21/08/2026