There's a new Payday game in the works, but it's not quite what I expected

The Payday series has had its fair share of ups and downs at this point. The first game showed promise, and Payday 2 put itself on the map as one of the best FPS games on PC, remaining an essential addition to your Steam library (and it’s on sale often for just a couple of bucks, too). Payday 3 is, well, the less said, the better, and now, a new team is taking a shot at an interesting spin-off. Payday: Aces High brings that same co-op heist chaos, but you’ll need to own a VR headset to play it.

After the third game’s tumultuous release, I’m actually excited for Payday: Aces High. Developer Fast Travel Games is a well-respected developer and publisher of virtual reality titles, with titles like Action Hero, Project Demigod, and Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice all under its VR belt. They’re all games I’ve played far too much to count, and that shows a good level of hope, especially with such a rough couple of years for the IP.

While most VR spin-offs from existing games have to make a lot of differences to work in virtual reality, it seems like Payday: Aces High is one of the easiest transitions. Besides using your physical hands to aim and shoot your guns or using your various heist tools, the general experience remains the same – plan the perfect heist with up to three friends, avoid setting off the alarms, and get out with the loot.

Each completed heist earns you cash to spend on more equipment, allowing you to pull off bigger, harder robberies. Not only will you learn how to manage your team of heisters, working together to perfect each level, but you’ll also learn actual skills, using your rewards to upgrade your criminal, whether you choose to be The Mastermind, The Ghost, The Technician, or The Enforcer.

What makes Payday so great is the rush and the adrenaline of perfecting each mission – that’s something that can easily translate into a VR exclusive experience. While it will be available on Steam and the Meta Quest storefront, you’ll need a virtual reality headset to play it – you could wait for the Steam Frame (as Payday: Aces High has a broad 2026 release date right now), or you could go ahead and purchase the Meta Quest 3 from Amazon, and start getting your legs VR-ready as soon as possible. Trust me, you’ll need to get used to it.

While my VR headset has been gathering dust lately, I’m sure Payday: Aces High is going to see me spend far too much time within virtual reality in the coming months. Admittedly, I’m not actually good at any of the three Payday games, as each heist always ends in disaster, but it’s the taking part that counts – right?