Payday 3 players killed less than 2,000 civilians on the first day of early access, which is surprisingly considerate of them

At long last, Payday 3’s full release day is today (September 21), and developer Starbreeze Studios has compiled a fascinating infographic of stats showing what players have been up to in the early access period. 

Starbreeze posted the stats to Twitter earlier this week, specifically highlighting the escapades of players on the first-person shooter’s first day of early access (which was September 18). While the total amount of in-game cash earned was absolutely astronomical, and the number of enemies killed is also pretty hefty, what’s arguably most surprising is the relatively low number of civilian NPCs killed. 

To be exact, on that first day, 1,976 civilian NPCs were taken out by players. Compare that to the number of enemies killed (1,144,520) and the even larger total number of kills (a whopping 20,169,312), it’s clear that most players were doing their best to avoid dragging any innocent NPCs into their heist antics. 

A quick peek at the post’s replies reveals that many of those kills were completely unintentional, too. One user responded: “1,976 killed civs, and I genuinely think I’m 70 of them, [from] the amount of rogue grenades I’ve thrown trying to throw bags.”

The stats have also proven that way more players like to go into their heists with all guns blazing rather than with a quieter approach, as 323,759 loud heists were carried out, while only 81,800 stealth heists were completed. Whatever the method, though, people were very productive, as they managed to collectively earn over 136 billion in cash.

If you’ve been waiting for Payday 3’s full release, it’s almost time to dive in. The game is set to unlock at 8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm BST, so there’s about an hour to go, at which point we can expect these stats to get much bigger.

If you’re on the lookout for something new to play, look no further than our recommendations for the best FPS games and best co-op games.