Cover-Credits:
Payday 3 is a high-stakes heist game that offers satisfying stealth play, especially in this latest iteration. This co-op experience comes with a team of four, and you enter the American gangster world with your friends. At its very core, Payday 3 is a multiplayer game. However, you may not always be in the mood to team up with your friends. Starbreeze, the creator of the game, has not shied away from hiding this feature. So, can you play solo in Payday 3? The answer is yes. In this article, we’ll take you through the steps you need to follow to play Payday 3 solo.
Playing Solo in Payday 3
As aforementioned, there is no straightforward method for playing solo. You need to go around a little and play with the settings. This means, you need to play in an Invite Only lobby. The game does not provide other options, like offline mode or a single-player lobby.
After picking your favorite heist in the game, you will get the option to change the lobby type. Here is where you can choose to play solo. Your lobby type will be set by default to ‘Public Type’. Change it to ‘Friends Only’ or ‘Invite Only’. The ‘Friends Only’ option will work for those who do not have any players in their friend list. If you have in-game friends, then select the ‘invite only’ option.
Now, click on ‘Matchmaking’. Choosing any one of the above options will set you in a pseudo-private lobby, where you can play solo and only join others through Invite. You’ll now find yourself in the loadout menu, where you can select your preferred weapons and spot your character. After clicking on ‘Ready’, the game will load and you will play solo, with AI teammates.
Playing with AI Teammates
These AI teammates do not really interfere in your gameplay. However, they will start helping you when things start going south. For example, if you are cuffed by an officer, you can rely on your AI teammates to help you out. But be careful, as this can trigger the action phase and blow your cover again.
Your bot teammates do not follow you in Secure or Private arenas, for the sake of the game. But they do follow you around in Public areas. They will also follow you everywhere if you trigger the alarm.
While this is not an ideal situation, it is currently the only way to play solo in Payday 3. It is possible that Starbreeze will introduce a single-player game mode in the future.
