History Trivia / PAYDAY2

*** This was mostly forced by circumstances, however. Overkill has initially planned to put ''PAYDAY 2'' on the backburner while [[VideoGame/OverkillsTheWalkingDead their Walking Dead game]] became the focus. Trouble is, the game came out in a bad state, leading TheWalkingDead rights holder Skybound to terminate the contract. Unable to sell the game, Overkill pulled it from the stores. This, coupled with other ill-advised investments [[note]]a game engine which didn't work as expected, a VR headset that only had a middling success and publishing deals for games that either got delayed or flopped[[/note]], pushed Overkill and their parent Starbreeze to the verge of bankruptcy. After attracting enough investment to keep afloat, the company had to restart the development of new ''PAYDAY 2'' content, as that was the only property they had that was sure to bring money. Meanwhile, the previously-rumored Payday 3 is now confirmed to be in active development.

* CashCowFranchise: With more than 24 DLC packs released within 2 years and more to come, the game has effectively become Overkill's Cash Cow and the addition of microtransactions only adds to it. A lot of players have been turned off by this. This is even more evident when you check out Overkill's website, where aside from Storm and The Walking Dead, every other game listed is either Payday, Payday 2 or a Payday 2 DLC. With news of development being resumed on Payday 2 in October 2019, it appears that the game is the only profitable source of revenue for the entire studio.

* CowboyBeBopAtHisComputer: The Wolf Pack DLC for the second game was given for free to people who already owned the DLC of the same name for the first game, as a MythologyGag given the sequel's version included the same heists and similar weapons. For some reason, people took this to mean that, until the release of the Ultimate Edition that let you purchase all the DLC at once, the ''only'' way to get the second game's Wolf Pack was by owning the first game's version, which was simply never true.

*** This was mostly forced by circumstances, however. Overkill has initially planned to put Payday 2 on the backburner while [[VideoGame/OverkillsTheWalkingDead their Walking Dead game]] became the focus. Trouble is, the game came out in a bad state, leading TheWalkingDead rights holder Skybound to terminate the contract. Unable to sell the game, Overkill pulled it from the stores. This, coupled with other ill-advised investments [[note]]a game engine which didn't work as expected, a VR headset that only had a middling success and publishing deals for games that either got delayed or flopped[[/note]], pushed Overkill and their parent Starbreeze to the verge of bankruptcy. After attracting enough investment to keep afloat, the company had to restart the development of new Payday 2 content, as that was the only property they had that was sure to bring money. Meanwhile, the previously-rumored Payday 3 is now confirmed to be in active development.
* LifeImitatesArt: On March 19, 2020, the police seized [[https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-03-20-cops-bust-real-life-gang-stash-house-find-weapons-cash-and-payday-masks 36 weapons, a bulletproof vest, cash, police equipment, drugs ammunition cases and masks of the original four members of the Payday Gang.]] No safehouse though, and only two people were arrested, and the masks were found to be bootlegs.

** The fan-made PAYDAY 2 skill calculator gives exact figures on boosts, bonuses, and total costs to help players plan out their tree; after a strong, positive response online, it was fully endorsed by OVERKILL, before they later implemented several aspects of it[[note]]Skills and perks give actual figures now (e.g. "carry bags faster" is now "carry bags 50% faster"), but players cannot calculate total costs when planning a perk tree.[[/note]] into the game itself.

* RoleReprise
** Lance Reddick returns from the ''Franchise/JohnWick'' films to voice Charon.
** Creator/SharltoCopley returns to voice Jimmy.
** André Sogliuzzo, who voiced Scarface/Tony Montana in ''VideoGame/ScarfaceTheWorldIsYours'' returns to voice Tony, though he was already TheOtherDarrin for Al Pacino.

** The Yacht Heist added as part of the John Wick Heists Pack DLC in 2017 was initially intended as far back as [[VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist the first game]]. Internal files referencing the heist existed since the game launched, suggesting the heist was heavily reworked throughout its development.

** ''PAYDAY: Crimewar'' was announced in 2018 as a mobile PVP-focused spinoff FPS. Then it was cancelled after the closed beta. Then it was uncancelled in 2022, although it was handed to a different developer, and instead the game aims to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF7YdXuT_bk recapture]] the ''PAYDAY 2'' experience with smaller maps and bite sized gameplay.

** Formerly, the Joker skill involved the Mastermind rigging a bomb to the enemy and telling them they can either help them or go kaboom. This was removed before the game released because of [[ExplosiveLeash the obviously shady]] [[PlayerPunch moral implications]] [[UnfortunateImplications of doing this,]] but the enemy responses to it were left in the game, making it seem like the Mastermind is forcing the enemy to help [[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry by being really mean to them.]]

** In the trailer for ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hsi5-338Fg The Big Bank]]'', we follow a civilian trying to get a loan to start his business: selling bobbleheads of the Bulldozer. The bobblehead, which has blushing cheeks and a love-heart painted on the faceplate, is based on the ''[[SenpaiKohai Senpai-Dozer]]'' fanmod, [[http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=239366524 which does exactly that.]]

* TalkingToHimself: In a rather strange way of mixing this trope with InksuitActor, Josh Lenn is lending his face to Hoxton, but he at the same time is the voice actor of the GO Bank blackmailer and Bodhi.

** The music track released alongside the Lab Rats heist is "Donacdum", a StupidStatementDanceMix of Houston's memetic "Don't act dumb!" line.

** David Goldfarb, who used to be the game director, was very ban happy on his Twitter account whenever any fan annoyed him. While he did have to endure the usual level of bile that the toxic fan base spewed his way, it caused him to lash out against anyone who got on his bad side and that includes people who were simply asking a question that was already answered or something he refused to answer.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: The No Mercy heist from the first game will likely never get remade due to Valve's involvement with the collaboration in the past and the fact that Overkill would also have to get permission from [[note]]now late[[/note]]Jim French to reuse his voice for [[VideoGame/Left4Dead Bill's]] cameo.
** Overkill has stated fairly recently that every heist from ''PAYDAY: The Heist'' is planned to be remade for ''Payday 2'', and they did allude to the No Mercy remake being worked on. Given that some of the classics had significant changes to them, both in terms of plot (Heat Street, Green Bridge) and in terms of actual level content (First World Bank, Diamond Heist), it's likely the No Mercy remake won't even need the ''Left 4 Dead'' character's voice.
** No Mercy was eventually released in 2018, surprisingly with the ''Left 4 Dead'' cameo intact.
** On October 1st, 2020, the Scarface Character Pack was removed from sale on Steam and Consoles for licensing reasons. This is a particularly odd example, as the Scarface ''Heists'' Pack is still up for sale, and by extension that allows them to use iconography and the name of the [=IP=] (so losing the Scarface name and trademark is out of the running too), so it seems to pertain to Scarface himself being the issue. Overkill haven't clarified what the issue is, but the theories are three-fold; Either the Voice Actors' contract expired, or Universal wanted to charge more money that Overkill didn't have to continue using the character.

** In the trailer for ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hsi5-338Fg The Big Bank]]'', we follow a civilian trying to get a loan to start his business: selling bobbleheads of the Bulldozer. The bobblehead, which has blushing cheeks and a love-heart painted on the faceplate, is based on the ''[[SempaiKohai Senpai-Dozer]]'' fanmod, [[http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=239366524 which does exactly that.]]

* CharacterOutlivesActor: ''Creator/MiraFurlin'' passed away in 2021 due to contracting West Nile Virus, meaning that any future appearances of her character, The Butcher, are unlikely to ever happen, not in this game at least.