PAYDAY 3 free heists include all formerly paid heists and all future heists as part of the base game, following the September 2026 update. You still need access to PAYDAY 3 itself, and the heist policy does not determine the price of Weapon Packs, Tailor Packs, Character Packs or Crimebonds. For returning owners, the change also includes announced rewards tied to the heist DLC they owned before its removal from sale, with individual purchases and bundle ownership both covered.
What changed with the September 2026 update?
The official roadmap marks September 2026 Update 3.9, the third anniversary update, as released and identifies free access to all heist DLCs among its changes. This turns the earlier announcement about opening paid heists to everyone into a policy associated with a released update, rather than an undated promise. The announcement explicitly includes future heists, so its scope extends beyond the collection of missions that had already been sold when the change was announced.
The stated reason is to bring the playerbase together by removing heist ownership as a concern when people want to play past and future missions together. For a group choosing a heist, that means the relevant content distinction is no longer whether each player bought that particular heist DLC. This is a change to access across the heist catalogue; the availability and price of other content remain separate questions.
Which formerly paid heists are included?
The announced removal from sale covered Syntax Error, Boys in Blue, Houston Breakout, Fear & Greed, Party Powder, Delivery Charge and Shopping Spree. These are the seven heist DLCs named in the announcement, connecting the broad promise of free heist access to specific products that players may remember buying. If one of those names appears in your purchase history, its former status as paid DLC does not mean new players must still buy it separately.
Free heist releases also existed before this catalogue change, including First World Bank, which the official update directory describes as a new take on an old favorite. The same directory identifies Cook Off and Turbid Station as the Legacy Heists, returning from PAYDAY 2 in a free PAYDAY 3 update. Those examples explain why searches for free heists can refer both to specific free releases and to the later policy covering previously paid missions.
What happened to old heist DLCs and bundles?
The official announcement set August 25, 2026 as the date for removing paid heist DLCs from all storefronts, ahead of the September update. It also explicitly said existing owners would keep access to their content after that date, so removal from sale was not a withdrawal of what they owned. The sales change and the later free access update therefore describe different parts of the transition: ending separate sales and opening the heists through the base game.
Bundles containing those heists were included in the removal from sale, including Chapter 1 – Syntax Error Bundle, Chapter 2 – Boys in Blue Bundle, Chapter 3 – Houston Breakout Bundle and Chapter 4 – Fear & Greed Bundle. The announcement also named Year 1 Edition / Year 1 Pass and the 2nd Anniversary Bundle among the affected products. When comparing an older bundle description with current heist access, separate its historical heist offering from the additional content categories that remain available for purchase.
Do you still need to buy PAYDAY 3?
Free heists are included with the base game; the announcement does not say that PAYDAY 3 itself has become a free game. The listed Steam offer still presented PAYDAY 3 as a purchase, which supports treating game ownership separately from the price of its heists. If you are deciding what to buy, establish your access to the base game first, then consider whether you want any of the remaining paid extras.
Someone who wants to play a formerly paid mission should therefore distinguish the base game purchase from an old listing for that mission's DLC. The September policy places those heists inside the base game, while the August announcement removed the separate paid heist products from storefronts. That distinction is especially useful when reading older purchasing advice built around individual heist releases or bundles that included them.
Which packs and Crimebonds are offered separately?
Weapon Pack DLCs, Tailor Pack DLCs and Character Pack DLCs are offered separately from the heist policy; the Epic Games Store snapshot lists First Responder Tailor Pack and Houston Character Pack as free. The free heist announcement also introduced a new paid Crimebond Collection, showing that wider mission access and new premium content can exist alongside each other. Before buying extra content, identify whether it is a heist or another product type, because the free access promise specifically addresses heists.
The official Guns Blazin' Crimebond announcement describes outfits, cosmetics and weapon perks, alongside dual revolvers and dual shotguns that can be stolen. It presents dual revolvers and those dual shotguns as firsts for PAYDAY 3, while the news headline marks the Crimebond as available. These contents give you a concrete basis for judging that collection separately from mission access, without assuming that the free heist policy also grants its advertised items.
What do previous heist DLC owners receive?
The announced rewards apply to players who owned paid heist DLCs before they were removed from sale, whether bought individually or obtained through a bundle. Owning any heist DLC qualifies for the S40 “Partisan” Pistol Variant, which the announcement explicitly describes as moddable. The rewards were scheduled to be available after the September update's release, making prior ownership the relevant condition described in the announcement.
Each individual heist DLC previously owned also corresponds to a Unique Preset Mask themed around that particular heist, rather than one identical mask for every purchase history. Players who owned all seven heist DLCs additionally qualify for the “Flame Keeper” Preset Mask, on top of the other announced rewards. The distinction matters when reviewing your earlier purchases: ownership of any heist, ownership of each specific heist and ownership of the complete set determine different rewards.
How does free access connect to Campaign Mode?
The announcement linked opening the heists to a new Campaign Mode featuring a completely rewritten storyline, presenting shared access as an opportunity to play through it from start to finish. It also pointed to the updated tutorial previously released in Update 3.6 as part of that invitation to work through the game. For players interested in that campaign, the central purchasing point is that the heists fall under base game access, while Crimebonds and the unaffected DLC categories remain separate considerations.