Payday Aces High Roadmap: Free Heists, Dates and What's Next

The Payday Aces High roadmap is out, and the headline is a good one. Fast Travel Games says every new heist it adds will be free for people who own the game. The first one, called Coup De Grâce, is pencilled in for 14 December. There’s also a big patch on 19 November and two community challenges before Christmas. I haven’t played it myself, so here’s what the studio has actually promised, what the reviewers said, and what’s still a bit fuzzy.

PAYDAY: Aces High – Launch Trailer, from Fast Travel Games’ official YouTube channel.

If you’re picking it up on the Meta Store rather than through Horizon+, my promo code VRCGUY can be entered at checkout. It’s my own code, and using it is a simple way to back this site.

Payday Aces High roadmap: the dates

The roadmap went up on the official PAYDAY website and on Steam on 6 November, the day after launch. UploadVR picked it up this week. Here’s the full plan, month by month:

6 November (already live): a hotfix added Restart Heist and Abandon Heist options for the party leader.
19 November: the first big update. It’s mostly bug fixes, plus a haptics intensity slider and a paper trail for toilet rolls.
26 November: the first Community Challenge, with unique gloves for everyone who takes part. A new pack also lands in Gage’s Shop, including Jupiter and Queen of Hearts masks.
10 December: a second Community Challenge with a free festive reward.
14 December: the new heist, Coup De Grâce, free for all owners. The Bank Robber Pack also arrives with new weapons, masks and more.

As with any roadmap, these dates can move. Still, it’s nice to see a studio put actual days on things rather than “soon”.

Are the new heists really free?

Yes, according to Fast Travel. The roadmap post is blunt about it: “All new heists in PAYDAY: Aces High will be COMPLETELY FREE!” It goes on to say there’s “no hidden fee, no battlepass, nothing”. The studio also says it will stick to that “for as long as we are developing the game”.

There’s one thing worth reading carefully, though. The free promise covers heists. It doesn’t say everything else is free. PixelArena makes the same point about the Bank Robber Pack. The roadmap lists it on the same day as the free heist, but it doesn’t describe the pack as free.

That matters because the game already has a shop. In its review, UploadVR says the safehouse shop takes in-game currency, reputation and real-world cash for cosmetics. So I’d expect new heists to cost nothing, while some masks and extras may cost real money. Fast Travel hasn’t confirmed pricing for the pack yet, so treat that as an open question.

What’s in the 19 November update?

This is the first proper patch. Fast Travel calls it “mostly bugfixes”, and an earlier launch-day post on Steam gave some examples. Cameras should stop spinning around when they spot players. Drones should stop flying into walls. AI teammates should also be keener to pick up loot bags.

That last fix is interesting. Bots fill any empty spots in your crew, so their behaviour matters a lot if you can’t round up three mates. Then there’s the haptics intensity slider, which is handy if the controller buzzing gets a bit much.

And yes, toilet rolls are getting a paper trail. Fast Travel’s post calls it a “very important addition”, tongue firmly in cheek. It’s a tiny touch, but it shows the team doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Restart and Abandon are already in

The roadmap originally put the restart button in the 19 November patch. However, the team said it would try to ship it sooner as a hotfix, and it did. Party leaders can now restart a heist without leaving the map. They can also abandon a heist, which sends the whole crew back to the safehouse together. If you played during launch week and got stuck, that’s sorted now.

What did the reviews say?

The reviews are a bit split, and the reasons are useful if you’re deciding whether to buy. UploadVR loved it. Its reviewer called it “one of the most fun VR games of the year” and said it’s a must-buy for shooter and heist-film fans. They did wish for more heist variety and more enemy types, though.

Meanwhile, Road to VR gave it 6.5 out of 10, which it rates as “Good”. The reviewer praised the level design, the gun handling and how good it looks on Quest 3. However, they called the enemy AI “objectively terrible” and said it was the game’s biggest flaw. They also said they don’t recommend playing solo at all.

Both reviews agree on one thing. This is a game to play with friends. So the free heists matter most for groups who’ll keep coming back, rather than solo players.

How much content is there at launch?

According to Fast Travel’s launch post, the full game has four classes and six heists, plus weapons, gadgets and skills to unlock. UploadVR adds that each heist has several sub-objectives on top of the main score. Coup De Grâce would make it seven heists by mid-December.

Here are the basics if you’re new to it:

Price: $24.99, according to UploadVR and Road to VR. Check the store for your local price.
Platforms: Meta Quest 3 and 3S, plus PC VR and Steam Frame through Steam.
Players: up to four, with bots filling empty slots.
Crossplay: UploadVR says crossplay is enabled between platforms.
Horizon+: it’s in Meta’s subscription catalogue, according to UploadVR.

I wrote a launch explainer before it came out, which covers the crew system and the playtests in more detail. You can read it in my guide to Payday Aces High on Quest. Crossplay was the big unknown back then, so it’s good to see that cleared up.

Why free heists matter in a co-op game

So why does this matter? Co-op games live or die on whether people keep playing. If new heists cost extra, the player base gets split between people who bought them and people who didn’t. Your mate without the DLC can’t join that job, and the group drifts off to something else.

Making every heist free keeps everyone on the same maps. It also suits Horizon+, where lots of players may be trying the game without buying it outright. Of course, the money has to come from somewhere. Cosmetics in Gage’s Shop look like the answer, and that’s a fair trade if it stays that way.

For comparison, The Great Flood and Fading Light are both free-to-play and rely on in-game purchases. Payday sits in the middle. You pay once, and then the shop is optional.

What we still don’t know

What Coup De Grâce actually involves. Fast Travel says “more details to come soon”.
Whether the Bank Robber Pack costs money, and how much.
Whether the 19 November patch improves enemy AI, which was Road to VR’s main complaint.
What comes after December. The roadmap only covers the rest of 2026.

Other co-op games to play this month

November is busy for co-op on Quest. Fading Light VR is a free zombie survival game for up to four players, due on 12 November. H3VR2 on Quest 3 lands the same day for fans of gun sandboxes. If you want another squad shooter, EXOSHOCK in Early Access is worth a look. For more Quest news in one place, head to my Meta Quest hub.

Payday Aces High FAQ

When is the first new heist coming?

Fast Travel says Coup De Grâce arrives on 14 December 2026.

Do I have to pay for new heists?

No. The studio says all new heists will be free for owners. Extra packs in the shop may not be.

Is there a battle pass?

Fast Travel says there’s no battle pass and no hidden fee for new heists.

Where can I see the Payday Aces High roadmap?

It’s on the official PAYDAY website and in the game’s Steam announcements, both linked below.

Can I play solo?

Yes, bots fill the empty slots. However, both UploadVR and Road to VR say it’s much better with other people.

Payday Aces High Roadmap: Free Heists, Dates and What’s Next