Payday 3 is not a mindless first-person shooter. There is a level of strategy and tactics that makes each heist all the more fun. That, however, is only possible if you invite friends to play together in co-op.
While you can still pair with random strangers through the built-in matchmaking, nothing beats coordinating your objectives with friends.
Here is how you can add and invite your friends to pull off some heists in Payday 3.
How to invite friends for co-op play in Payday 3
Payday 3 has a social menu feature that shows all of your online and active friends. You can open the social menu by pressing the “P” button on PC or the “Menu / Start” buttons on PlayStation and Xbox consoles respectively.
Once you find a friend that you want to invite for a co-op session, press “O” on PC or the “Right Analog Stick” on consoles to send them an invitation. If they accept the request, they will join your lobby.
Thanks to the magic of cross-platform support, you and your friends do not need to be on the same platform to play Payday 3 together.
You can invite friends in Payday 3 while you are in the pre-mission lobby or during matchmaking. Something important to keep in mind here is that you can also invite friends in the middle of a heist.
In case one of your team members has left the heist, you can use the social menu to invite a friend to fill the vacant spot.
Some missions like the Under the Surphaze heist in Payday 3 are fairly challenging and long. You are going to need a full squad for backup and to split your objectives between yourselves.
How to add friends in Payday 3
In case you are wondering how to send a friend request in Payday 3, you need to use the same social menu feature.
Notice the text box at the top of the menu screen. You need to enter your friend’s username or Payday account name here to send them a friend request. Since Payday 3 supports cross-platform play, you can even enter your friend’s PSN username here.
The “Outgoing Friends Requests” menu on the right tells you how many friend requests you have sent. The “Incoming Friends Requests” menu tells how you friend requests you have received and are waiting to be accepted.
How to join a friend’s game in Payday 3
If you want to join a friend’s Payday 3 lobby without receiving an invitation, you can do so from the social menu screen.
As long as both of you have added each other, just click on their name on PC or press “Triangle / Y” on PlayStation / Xbox to join them.
Once you have joined your friend’s lobby, you will be able to change your gear and load up before going into your heist.
“Can’t invite friends in Payday 3”
If your invite friends feature is not working in Payday 3, it is possible that your friend is playing on a different platform than you.
Check to see if you have disabled cross-play by heading into Settings > Gameplay. The cross-play feature should be enabled.
If you are still unable to invite friends in Payday 3, it is possibly due to server problems. Payday 3 was just launched and with thousands of players trying to join at once, the online servers can take a hammering.
