Creative Minds Behind Payday 1 & 2 Reveal a Near-Future Heist Game to Elevate the Genre

During the Game Awards on December 7, 2023, 10 Chambers announced its new four-player co-op heist game, Den of Wolves. Den of Wolves comes from a studio composed of many of the creative minds that developed Payday: The Heist and Payday 2, including Simon Viklund, the creative director, and Ulf Andersson, the game designer.

We had the opportunity to see a presentation on Den of Wolves, which delved into the concept, location, and gameplay that players can expect once Den of Wolves releases.

Den of Wolves is set in 2097, in a world where technology has become the new tool of thieves, terrorists, and anarchists. Mega-corporations, desperate to out-compete each other in an arms race, have flocked to Midway City. This island quickly became the nerve center for international trade, at a massive human cost.

It’s within these massive grey zones that Den of Wolves takes place. Players perform gig jobs as “fixers”. Fixers work outside of corporations and are called upon to steal, assassinate, or hack their way through biological encryptions. But Den of Wolves promises to go beyond the standard heist experience, where you’re given a laundry list of things to do in a linear fashion.

Instead, you’ll have a main objective which you’ll need to build your way up to completing. That will require players to gather intel and materials while ensuring that all the pieces are in place before tackling the main objective.

Likewise, choices will matter. If you have three potential NPCs you can interrogate for information, interrogating one may drive the other two into hiding. This forking narrative-style gameplay promises more replayability, with an ample sprinkle of RNG sprinkled into each mission.

And while players are free to play Den of Wolves casually, it’s a game with a layered and thought-provoking story. Its lore will be woven into the mission and environment, meaning you can choose to interact with it or not.

But ultimately, you’re not meant to be the good guy. You’re a pawn in the system, a cog in the corporate machine. And no matter what, you’re going to have blood on your hands.

Den of Wolves currently has no release date. However, early access will hit PC first, with consoles following after. DLC will likely be added, with the intention of adding to Midway City with new areas and stand-alone story missions. Personally, I can’t wait for Little Tokyo.