HIGHEST RECORDED STEAM COUNT
247,628 simultaneous players
Recorded in June 2017. Steam Charts’ historical record; earlier or between-sample peaks may be missing.
Multiplayer · STEAM APP 218620
Is PAYDAY 2 dead?
PAYDAY 2 player count, trends & update status · Steam app 218620
Signal unavailableCompare game
Signal unavailable. Check back.
Checked Oct 26, 2026, 02:00 PM UTC · Steam API · Steam-only count
Direct from SteamStale observation · Oct 26, 2026, 02:00 PM UTC
POPULATION HEALTH & MOMENTUM
How this is calculated Signal unavailable
Awaiting a fresh verified observation
Population signals describe Steam activity, not queue quality or global player counts.
Steam players online13,203At the recorded observation time
24h observed high15,295From 12 recorded samples
24h change-6.1%Requires a comparable sample 24h ago
PAYDAY 2 is a multiplayer game from The publisher. Right now 13,203 people are running it on Steam (Oct 26, 2026, 02:00 PM UTC). In September 2026 it averaged 29,224 concurrent players, with a monthly peak of 36,658. That’s a steady, healthy crowd.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Is PAYDAY 2 dead? FAQ
Is PAYDAY 2 dead in 2026?
Signal unavailable for PAYDAY 2. Check back for a fresh Steam observation. Our current health signal is Signal unavailable.
How many people play PAYDAY 2?
13,203 people were playing PAYDAY 2 on Steam at Oct 26, 2026, 02:00 PM UTC. The high over the last 24 hours was 15,295, and the September 2026 average was 29,224. Steam only: console players and other launchers aren’t counted.
Is PAYDAY 2 dying?
Not by our numbers. Its September 2026 average (29,224) was within range of August 2026 (29,043).
Is PAYDAY 2 still being updated?
Yes, regularly. 7 patch posts in the last 90 days; latest: PAYDAY 2: Update 248.2 Changelog (Sep 25, 2026).
Is PAYDAY 2 worth playing in 2026?
If you want a crowd, play at the busy hours. It also has a single-player mode, so the player count matters less if you play solo.
Steam only: console players and other launchers aren’t counted.
UPDATE CADENCE
Is PAYDAY 2 still being updated?
Yes, regularly. 7 patch posts in the last 90 days; latest: PAYDAY 2: Update 248.2 Changelog (Sep 25, 2026).
Dates are publication dates, not verified deployment times. We use publisher patch tags and conservative headline matches; previews and test updates are excluded.
Evidence & freshness Check each source separately
- Player countStale · last known result
- Monthly historyStale · last known result
- Publisher feedStale · last known result
- Store listingStale · last known result
- Player reviewsStale · last known result
Freshness describes when we collected a source, not when the game was updated. Missing data is never zero. Review samples and partial daily coverage are labeled separately; a fresh source can still be incomplete.
The latest movement
- +1,263 Steam players since Oct 26, 2026, 12:00 PM UTC (+10.6%). A snapshot comparison, not a daily growth rate.
- +0.00 percentage points in overall positive reviews since Oct 10, 2026, 10:13 PM UTC. 78 net change in review total; edited or removed reviews can affect this.
Population compares consecutive observations; publisher posts use a separate seven-day window. Neither establishes why the audience changed.
THE SINGLE-PLAYER PERSPECTIVE
Worth playing on your own?
Steam lists both single-player and multiplayer modes. The population signal concerns activity; this section adds the solo perspective.
Steam review totals89% positive675,086 reviews · all languages and purchase types
New reviews · last 30 days89% positive500 sampled reviews · limited coverage · Comparable monthly trend unavailable
Store availabilityLast known listingSteam US · Store page available · Check store & system requirements
Review percentages describe recommendations, not technical reliability. Recent sentiment uses up to 500 newest reviews; a month-to-month comparison requires complete coverage and at least 20 reviews in each period. An available store listing does not prove offline access, server uptime or purchase availability in every country.
Store checked Oct 18, 2026, 08:00 AM UTC. Reviews checked Oct 18, 2026, 08:00 AM UTC. Read player reviews. See developer involvement below for patch evidence; a finished game does not need ongoing updates.
DEVELOPER INVOLVEMENT
Is anyone still updating it?
Patch evidence and publisher communication, separate from population.
Latest patch evidenceSep 25, 2026PAYDAY 2: Update 248.2 Changelog · Update headline (automatically identified)
Version in that announcement248.2Only explicit version numbers in the latest patch headline. Not an installed build check.
Patch announcements · past 90 days7Within the retrieved Steam feed. Posts, not distinct releases.
Latest publisher post: PAYDAY 2: Update 248.2 Changelog · Sep 25, 2026
Recent patch evidence & methodology
- Sep 25, 2026 · PAYDAY 2: Update 248.2 Changelog Update headline (automatically identified)
- Sep 17, 2026 · PAYDAY 2: Update 248.1 Changelog Update headline (automatically identified)
- Sep 15, 2026 · PAYDAY 2: Update 248 Changelog Update headline (automatically identified)
- Sep 3, 2026 · PAYDAY 2: Update 247.3 Changelog Publisher patchnotes tag
- Aug 19, 2026 · PAYDAY 2: Update 247.2 Changelog Publisher patchnotes tag
Dates are publication dates, not verified deployment times. We use publisher patch tags and conservative headline matches; previews and test updates are excluded. Untagged updates, other storefronts and changes without announcements may be missing. An older version is not carried forward when the latest patch does not name one.
Single-player perspective: A completed game can remain excellent without frequent patches or a large concurrent audience. Quiet development does not establish abandonment, broken gameplay or loss of offline access. These signals do not lower the population rating.
Source checked Oct 18, 2026, 08:00 AM UTC · 100 retrieved Steam publisher posts. Tracked games refresh daily while the collector is running; opening a report can refresh the 30-minute cache.
THE HEALTH BRIEF
Activity, momentum, and updates.
Monthly momentum+0.6%September 2026 vs August 2026
Highest recorded concurrency247,628June 2017 · Steam Charts
Latest patch announcementSep 25, 2026PAYDAY 2: Update 248.2 Changelog
Momentum compares completed monthly averages. Patch dates are announcement dates, not independently verified deployment times.
The longer view
Average concurrent Steam players · completed calendar months
30K average players
Source retrieved Oct 18, 2026, 08:00 AM UTC. Steam Charts samples hourly; these are averages, not monthly unique players.
View the monthly numbers
| Month | Average players | Change | Recorded peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 29,224.35 | +0.62% | 36,658 |
| August 2026 | 29,043.28 | -3.23% | 35,446 |
| July 2026 | 30,013.9 | +4.17% | 36,062 |
| June 2026 | 28,812.22 | +5.24% | 35,076 |
| May 2026 | 27,378.58 | +41.26% | 36,506 |
| April 2026 | 19,382.37 | -9.08% | 31,053 |
| March 2026 | 21,317.4 | -9.13% | 30,378 |
| February 2026 | 23,459.06 | -0.21% | 31,706 |
| January 2026 | 23,509.45 | -7.46% | 33,781 |
| December 2025 | 25,405.25 | +24.00% | 33,967 |
| November 2025 | 20,487.65 | -11.55% | 32,694 |
| October 2025 | 23,163.79 | -5.75% | 35,373 |
Milestones that matter
Recorded evidence, with its measurement window.
STRONGEST MONTH IN THIS WINDOW
July 2026 · 30,014 average players
The highest monthly average among the 12 completed months displayed above.
LATEST COMPLETED MONTH
September 2026 averaged +0.6% versus August 2026
A comparison of sampled concurrency. It does not measure individual players gained or lost, or establish a cause.
Latest updates & announcements
From this game’s Steam announcement feed.
Sep 252026PATCH NOTES
PAYDAY 2: Update 248.2 Changelog
Sep 172026PATCH NOTESPAYDAY 2: Update 248.1 Changelog
Sep 152026ANNOUNCEMENTPAYDAY 2: Under The Hammer Heist
Sep 152026PATCH NOTESPAYDAY 2: Update 248 Changelog
Sep 32026PATCH NOTESPAYDAY 2: Update 247.3 Changelog
Feed checked Oct 18, 2026, 08:00 AM UTC. Only Steam’s publisher/community announcement feed is used; broader gaming news is excluded.
OUR OWN RECORDS. EVERY DAY.
Daily population archive
Stored internally · averages, highs, lows and sampling coverage
2026-09-1131,952 max daily average2026-10-26
22 observed days. Muted bars have fewer than 18 sampled UTC hours. Empty slots mark missing days. These are averages of collected samples, not time-weighted estimates.
Daily records & coverage
| Date (UTC) | Average | Low | High | Samples | Hours covered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-26 | 12,149 | 10,121 | 13,660 | 8 | 8/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-25 | 15,401 | 12,891 | 19,650 | 12 | 12/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-24 | 17,316 | 12,198 | 19,294 | 12 | 12/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-23 | 16,677 | 12,346 | 19,938 | 12 | 12/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-22 | 15,658 | 13,308 | 19,576 | 12 | 12/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-21 | 15,289 | 11,268 | 19,719 | 12 | 12/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-20 | 13,376 | 7,060 | 17,353 | 12 | 12/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-19 | 15,111 | 12,839 | 17,699 | 12 | 12/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-18 | 13,560 | 12,165 | 15,463 | 12 | 12/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-17 | 21,820 | 12,901 | 30,532 | 12 | 12/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-16 | 28,169 | 20,323 | 35,612 | 12 | 12/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-15 | 30,861 | 24,981 | 33,397 | 12 | 12/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-14 | 31,952 | 31,952 | 31,952 | 1 | 1/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-13 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-10-12 | 27,583 | 25,121 | 31,688 | 22 | 21/24 |
| 2026-10-11 | 29,782 | 25,087 | 33,886 | 26 | 24/24 |
| 2026-10-10 | 31,600 | 25,883 | 32,966 | 12 | 9/24 · partial |
| 2026-10-09 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-10-08 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-10-07 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-10-06 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-10-05 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-10-04 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-10-03 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-10-02 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-10-01 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-30 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-29 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-28 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-27 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-26 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-25 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-24 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-23 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-22 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-21 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-20 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-19 | 31,908 | 31,773 | 32,133 | 4 | 2/24 · partial |
| 2026-09-18 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-17 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-16 | 26,569 | 24,779 | 29,174 | 4 | 2/24 · partial |
| 2026-09-15 | No observations — gap | ||||
| 2026-09-14 | 31,942 | 26,742 | 35,391 | 43 | 23/24 |
| 2026-09-13 | 31,186 | 25,656 | 36,589 | 45 | 24/24 |
| 2026-09-12 | 31,789 | 20,636 | 35,829 | 45 | 24/24 |
| 2026-09-11 | 26,936 | 18,802 | 32,393 | 14 | 8/24 · partial |
Daily aggregates are retained long term. Detailed raw samples are kept for 30 days. Download daily archive CSV.
The latest pulse
Observed Steam concurrency · past 24 hours
15,295Steam players · observed samples
Oct 25, 2026, 04:00 PM UTCOct 26, 2026, 02:00 PM UTC
Last 24 hours: 12 Steam samples, high 15,295, now 13,203. Times in UTC. Tracking since Sep 11, 2026, 04:52 PM UTC. Sampling target: every 30 minutes while the collector is running. Gaps over 45 minutes are not connected.
Is PAYDAY 2 still active?
The latest available observation reports 13,203 players running PAYDAY 2 on Steam, recorded Oct 26, 2026, 02:00 PM UTC. Our health signal is signal unavailable.
Steam lists this title as a multiplayer game. The app-wide count can include solo, local, idle, and online sessions; it does not establish which modes or regions are populated.
Steam only: console players and other launchers aren’t counted.
We do not infer server uptime, human-only player counts, matchmaking speed, or console population from Steam concurrency. Read the full methodology.
