A Payday 3 player was absolutely trolled by developers Starbreeze when they decided to test whether the QR codes used to unlock doors in nearly every heist actually link out to anything. Spoiler alert: they do, and you’ll hate yourself for checking.
The player posted a recording of their gameplay to Twitter on Sept. 23, where, midway through the Dirty Ice heist in Payday 3, they decided to grab their actual cellphone and read the QR code in the main jewelry store area, intrigued as to whether it actually has an embedded link.
While watching the gameplay clip, my own heart sank as soon as I saw the YouTube link pop up beneath the QR code. I mean, it’s a YouTube link to an unknown video…is it even an unknown video at this point? I know what you’re probably thinking, and you’re correct. Starbreeze has Rick Rolled us all. The QR codes actually work, and scanning them is a trap—they redirect you to the infamous Rick Astley song.
Part of me wanted to believe that the video was edited, but part of me also really hoped it wasn’t. In our review of Payday 3, we praised Starbreeze for how much personality was present in the design and tone of the sequel but had to acknowledge the terrible server issues and lack of an offline solo mode.
Ironically, both elements proved true once more today. It took several hours before we were finally able to get into a heist, but once we did, we were able to confirm that the video was not edited—the Easter egg was real.
Naturally, we made it our mission to find out if every QR code in Payday 3 is equally cursed, if this is a unique event, or if different ones link to different things. The Twitter clip showed the QR code on the door to the VIP showroom, so that’s what we tested first before moving on to the other QR code doors in Dirty Ice.
So far, we have discovered that every QR code in the Dirty Ice heist will Rick Roll you if you scan it. As any good scientist would, we’re moving on to other QR codes in other heists and shall report our findings, but we have a sneaking suspicion it’s a whole lot more Astley.
