Starbreeze admits it “dropped the ball” over stealth price increase to DLC bundle

Starbreeze has admitted it “dropped the ball” after introducing a premium DLC subscription service for Payday 2 at the same time as increasing the price of its DLC bundle Infamous Collection without warning.

The company launched a subscription service for Payday 2 on Steam as part of the franchise’s 12th anniversary celebrations yesterday (September 24). The service offers players access to all the game’s available download content for $4.99 a month (with monthly renewal) or $19.99 for six months, with the option to cancel anytime.

What wasn’t part of the announcement, however, was a 50% hike to the DLC bundle, taking it from $100 to $150, resulting in a vocal backlash from the heist shooter’s long-time community.

In a statement to GameDeveloper, head of commercial Gustav Misser said: “We dropped the ball on coordinating internally and communicating with our community properly.

“The negative reaction makes complete sense, and the community has made it clear how the price change and its timing looks from the outside. We agree with the community, we messed up on this one, and we have reverted the price on the bundle effective immediately.

“In hindsight we should have realized how it would seem,” he added. “Since the bundle only charges for the items you don’t own, and the bundle discount is cumulative with any other discounts (i.e. discounts on the included items), the actual full price of the bundle can vary significantly.”