Is Payday 2 Crossplay to Play with Friends on other Console Generations?

Planning the heists and executing them properly is a work of art and unless you’re the Professor, one might be digging a grave for themselves if they’re not careful. But thanks to the CO-OP feature of Payday 2, you can depend on your friends to have your back and get you through and enjoy the freedom with large stacks of paper in your back pocket. 

Payday 2 is fun to play with bots and strangers over the internet. Yet, the real fun comes from teaming up with your buddies to pull off amazing heists! From coordinating floor plans to taking hostages to buy you some time, Payday’s experience wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t CO-OP. Fortunately, you can invite your friends from all over the world. Alternatively, you can use our split screen Payday 2 hack to play from the same room. Pulling off impossible heists with your peers and such a feature greatly contributes to the game’s continued success. 

But, the big question is: Is Payday 2 crossplay enabled to play with friends on other platforms? Let’s find out. 

What is Crossplay?

Crossplay or Cross-Platform is a term used to define a functionally of an online game where players from all sorts of hardware can play with each other. For example, if some games have crossplay abilities, players from PC, next-gen Consoles, and Switch would be able to play with each other simultaneously.

Most modern games, including Fortnite and Warzone, are the perfect example of crossplay or cross-platform multiplayer games. This is becoming an increasing expectation in the video game industry, especially for a modern FPS game.

With this feature, players can invite their friends, even if they’re using a different console. For instance, if you’re playing a game on your Playstation 4 but your friends are using Xbox One, you could directly invite them to play with you in the same lobby. Similarly, crossplay or cross-platform lets PC players invite console players and vice versa.

Moreover, if an online multiplayer game doesn’t support crossplay or cross-platform play, it would mean that Xbox players would only be able to play with each other. The same goes for Playstation and PC users. In the early days of gaming, there was no concept of crossplay. Hence, you won’t find many crossplay games on the market. 

Does Payday 2 Support Crossplay or Cross-platform?

Finally, to answer your burning question. Payday 2 does not officially support cross-platform play. This means that you won’t be able to play with your friends who have a different gaming platform than you. If you’re enjoying robbing banks and ripping off meth dealers on your Xbox, then you will only be able to team up with people who own an Xbox. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to play Payday 2 cross platform with players that have logged on from Playstation or PC. 

Payday 2 was originally released in 2013 by Overkill Software. Its CO-OP feature was one of a kind and second to none. It received praises from all over the world and gained popularity because of its truly stunning offerings. And despite being released almost over a decade ago, Payday 2 is pretty much alive and thousands of players tune in every day to try their luck in pulling the heist of the century. 

Initially, Payday 2 was released on Xbox 360, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Playstation 3. But due to its immense success in its genre, Payday 2 was also made available for the next-gen consoles. This includes Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One. And up till 2019, Payday 2 was getting regular updates and bonus content. Despite being made available for the next-gen consoles, Payday 2 cross platform (or crossplay) functionality was never developed.

Is Payday 2 Cross-Generation Compatible?

Much like Crossplay or Cross-platform, Cross-generation is a term used in gaming circles. The term Cross-Generation represents a functionally of an online game that can be played by players using a different variant of the gaming platform. For instance, a cross-generation game would have the same servers for both, Playstation 3 and Playstation 4. 

And since Payday 2 is available on Playstation 3 and Playstation 4, it supports cross-gen. Meaning that if you and your friends have the same game model but different variants of the same console then you can play with each other without any hurdles. A good example of this is Playstation 3 and Playstation 4.

Payday 2 Cross Platform: Can You Crossplay Payday 2 Between Xbox 360 and Xbox One? 

Since Payday 2 supports cross-generation functionality, players who have Xbox 360 can play with friends who use an Xbox One.

The only requirement is to have the same game model. Oftentimes, some updates are made available for newer consoles. At the same time, the previous-gen consoles have to wait sometime to download them. In such cases, cross-platform Xbox gameplay wouldn’t be a possibility. 

Does Payday 2 Support Cross-Platform Play Between PlayStation 4  and PlayStation 5? 

Payday 2: Crimewave Edition was released for Playstation 5 and it looks stunning on the newer console generation. Similarly, the same version is also available for Playstation 4.

And if you have the same model of the game on both of these consoles, you would be able to invite your friends over and rip people off their riches. Meaning it can be played on multiple devices from different console generations.

A major reason why cross-play wasn’t successful is that the concept is somewhat new. To implement such a mechanism on old games doesn’t seem to make much sense.

Similarly, the profits are low and instead of trying new things and adding crossplay in Payday 2, developers have all hands on deck in the development of the next game in the franchise, Payday 3. 

Can I Crossplay Payday 2 using GeForce Now? 

Nvidia launched its online cloud gaming service which allows users to play their favorite games on their PCs, Macs, consoles, and even mobile phones.

A ton of online multiplayer games are available on GeForce Now including Payday 2. If you want to play with your friends in a crossplay, you need to sign up for GeForce Now.  Much like Google’s Stadia, GeForce Now offers a flawless gaming experience. From there, you can play CO-OP games like Payday 2 on a cross-platform PC.

Although you might have to spend a few extra bucks on the subscriptions, GeForce Now is well worth it. This is especially true if you’re longing to play with your friends who own a different version of hardware. Moreover, GeForce Now is available for Xbox, PlayStation, PC, Android devices, and Apple devices.

To run GeForce Now on your device, you won’t have to rely on beefy specs, a strong internet connection would be sufficient since you’ll be a part of a cloud gaming network and won’t be requiring any physical specs to enjoy cross-platform gameplay on the device you’re operating. 

In case you’re wondering, GeForce Now isn’t functioning on Nintendo Switch. The developers of the Nintendo Switch have yet to comment on when cloud gaming would be made available.

Payday 2 Generation and Cross-Platform: Verdict

The question in your head, if Payday 2 is Crossplay, is hopefully answered in our brief guide to Payday 2’s crossplay and cross-platform functionalities. Payday 2 is truly an amazing CO-OP first-person shooter and it’s twice as fun when you’re playing with your friends.

The fact that it isn’t compatible with crossplay functionality like Grand Theft Auto V, a well-known FPS modern game and 3rd-person game that is often compared to this game, is definitely a bummer. Yet, with GeForce Now, which offers cross-platform gaming, it could start to become a reality.