The “Payday” franchise is based around cooperative multiplayer, primarily with player vs. environment (PvE) dynamics as teams of players carry out heists. Since debuting in 2011, the series has seen its fair share of ups and downs, including a divisive launch for “Payday 3” that had its developers apologizing. But when a “Payday” experience really comes together, balancing tightly coordinated teamwork and first-person shooter action, the game knocks it out of the park.
For “Payday” fans looking for something similar, there is no shortage of cooperative multiplayer games available. This includes other first-person games with pulse-pounding action and online crime games that similarly challenge teams of players to pull off the ultimate score. We’re rounding up the best, each with similar gameplay or tonal sensibilities but very much offering their own distinct experience. If you and your friends like to have fun working (and stealing) together, here are the five best video games like “Payday.”
Left 4 Dead
Valve’s survival horror game “Left 4 Dead” encourages players to embark on a very different kind of cooperative getaway. Like “Payday,” this is a four-person cooperative online first-person shooter — but instead of pulling heists, players have to survive a zombie apocalypse. Both “Left 4 Dead” and “Left 4 Dead 2” feature survivors fighting their way to a safehouse at the end of each level, culminating in a final level where they make their last stand against a zombie horde. Online players also have the option to play as various zombie types and try to impede the survivor team from escaping to safety.
Both the original “Left 4 Dead” and its 2009 sequel offer some of the most cooperative survival horror gameplay to date. The action is appropriately chaotic and each of the campaigns build to a rewarding climax that keeps players on their toes. It’s also thoroughly entertaining to play as the undead, with enough variety in the zombie types to keep the experience fresh. Over a decade later and we’re still waiting for Valve to release “Left 4 Dead 3,” but the two games we got are still a lot of fun.
Grand Theft Auto Online
If there was ever a crime game franchise that challenged players to see how much they can get away with, it’s “Grand Theft Auto.” While multiplayer gameplay has been a factor for the series since the original 1997 title, the concept was perfected by “Grand Theft Auto Online.” Launched in 2013 as a standalone companion title to “Grand Theft Auto V,” the game lets players work together or against each other as they navigate the open-world map. This includes carrying out various heists and other missions as players build their own criminal empires with the region.
“Grand Theft Auto Online” takes all that open-world freedom and explosive mayhem that the main series is known for and blows it up for fun with others. Since its launch, Rockstar has steadily supported the game with regular updates and additional content, keeping the experience fresh. This includes activities to engage in (other than general criminal mischief), but the open-world antics remain the game’s overall highlight. More than just broadly resembling the premise and scope of “Payday,” “Grand Theft Auto Online” is the perfect game to play while waiting for “GTA 6.”
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
The 2016 action game “Tom Clancy’s The Division” changed up environments and doubled down on the third-person cooperative action for its 2019 sequel. “Tom Clancy’s The Division 2” continues the story of a world ravaged by a contagion, causing rampant lawlessness to overtake many American cities. The sequel relocates the action to Washington, D.C. as players work to restore order across the wider metropolitan area. Players can operate alone for work in teams of up to four people as they complete missions around the open-world map and drive back hostile factions.
“The Division 2” visibly improves upon the foundations laid by its predecessor, going bigger and deeper with its experience. This includes tighter gunplay, but also more distinct environments and weapons and gadgets available to players. “The Division 2” received a massive upgrade in 2021, enhancing the game for platforms supporting 4K presentation. With a more richly realized world and intuitive co-op gameplay, “Tom Clancy’s The Division 2” is a superior sequel and great fun with friends.
Deep Rock Galactic
Another indie first-person shooter co-op title that improves significantly when playing together with your buddies is “Deep Rock Galactic.” The 2020 title has gamers play as space dwarves clearing out mines either alone or in teams of up to four people. “Deep Rock Galactic” offers four character classes and the levels are procedurally generated, keeping each playthrough unique and adding to the overall replayability. This extends to a selection of game modes, each with their own objectives, including mining for specific resources and eliminating enemy infestations.
With its fully destructible environments and engaging game modes, there is plenty to keep “Deep Rock Galactic” fans coming back for more. Also contributing to that variety in gameplay is the character classes, which legitimately feel distinct in how each of them handle. That adds to the overall depth of the experience, challenging players as they learn how to better coordinate with teammates on each mission. Blending fantasy and sci-fi with memorable co-op gameplay, “Deep Rock Galactic” excels when its teamwork elements come into focus.
The 2021 co-op game “GTFO” has a more pronounced monster-hunting direction to its first-person shooter action. Players control prisoners who are dispatched to eradicate monsters that have taken over a shadowy underworld facility. Interacting with terminals strewn around levels to advance and complete objectives, teams use weapons and futuristic gadgets to battle the creatures. In some segments, players have to endure waves of enemies while waiting for objectives to complete, similar to “Left 4 Dead.”
Like “Left 4 Dead,” “GTFO” has a visible horror vibe to its co-op action, illustrated by its dark setting and the tensions around outmaneuvering and fighting monsters. The first-person perspective makes that suspense-fueled immersion all the more palpable, especially when the chips are down. There is also a greater sense of reward, with players unlocking weapons and other customizations as they progress, rather than those things being presented as paid DLC. A bit creepier than most of the other games on this list, “GTFO” is a full-on thrill ride.
