PAYDAY 2 Gets Upgraded Diesel 3.0 Engine: 64-Bit Architecture and File Size Shrunk to 32GB

To mark the 13th anniversary of the cooperative shooter PAYDAY 2, the major technical Update 247 has been released, transitioning the game to the modernized Diesel 3.0 engine. According to the official website, the update moves the game to a 64-bit architecture, reduces the install size from 86GB to 32GB, and upgrades the graphics API to DirectX 11.

The main technical upgrade is dropping the 32-bit version of the engine. Removing the 4GB RAM limit resolves Out of Memory crashes on Windows 10 and 11 when loading heavy maps. A new file compression system reduces disk space usage by nearly two-thirds, while optimized asset streaming speeds up level loading times on SSDs.

The graphics pipeline has been upgraded from DirectX 9 to DirectX 11. While the game’s visuals remain unchanged, VRAM usage has dropped to 1.2GB, improving performance on low-end graphics cards.

Built-in VR, Developers, and Bug Fixes

Virtual reality support, which first arrived in 2018, is now built directly into the base client and no longer requires downloading a separate free DLC on Steam. Sidetrack Games, a studio made up of community modders, developed the update while Starbreeze focuses on developing PAYDAY 3.

The patch also fixes a system bug where the mouse cursor disappeared in Windows when Alt-Tabbing, updates the network stack, and shortens lobby quick-join codes to 6 characters.

Linux Changes and Mod Status

The developers have dropped native Linux support due to the difficulties of maintaining 64-bit code. Linux and Steam Deck users must now run the shooter via the Proton compatibility layer.

The engine architecture shift has also temporarily broken most user-made modifications, including BLT scripts and custom user interfaces, which the community will need to adapt for the 64-bit system.