Hollywood heist movies typically give equal billing to the planning phase and the execution of the robbery. The original Payday offered players one half of the traditional blockbuster heist experience, throwing players into a heavily-scripted level against a seemingly relentless tidal wave of AI enemies and calling it a day.

In Payday 2, the crucial planning stage has finally been added, dividing jobs into several phases that spread out over the course of a number of days and randomizing the outcomes for would-be robbers.