Murkywater is a company in the PAYDAY universe. On the surface, they're a private military company, but are actually what is described as an army, performing operations and moving contraband all around the globe.
While in PAYDAY: The Heist, they were only directly involved in one heist and mentioned in another, in PAYDAY 2 they are much more prominent, in fact having a heist pack revolving entirely around raiding Murkywater property.
The following lists include heists performed by the Payday Gang where Murkywater is directly or implied to be involved. They are listed in chronological order.
According to Bain and the FBI Files, Murkywater is a private army, also providing security of various types and transport of all sorts of items. It is assumed that its services are a front for its army and a way to recruit soldiers. Its personnel are hired and its security systems used for protecting various types of precious items by even "top corporations" and government officials.
Bain and, if he was quoting him directly, Gage show disgust for Murkywater, saying its army is full of "mercenaries and looters" and "corn-fed troops". If a painting is bagged in Shadow Raid, Bain may comment that it was last seen in the Iraqi National Gallery and that Murkywater is shameless.
They seem to have connections deep enough (or manpower strong enough) to acquire and transport weapons of mass destruction, as seen in Meltdown, where in the crew steals nuclear warheads from a Murkywater dockyard, Beneath the Mountain, in which among the loot available is a prototype explosive which is described to be so powerful that "if you press the wrong buttons, there's no telling what'd you turn into", and Murky Station, where the crew's mission is to sneak into and out of a Murkywater trainyard with an EMP bomb.
They also appear to have the ability to gain access to top-secret government information, as evidenced by Vernon Locke's lines regarding the Master Server in the Beneath the Mountain heist, and hinted at by Bain in the Shadow Raid heist upon bagging a server.
They possibly have close ties with GenSec, as they use GenSec security systems and hire GenSec security guards in facilities containing items of extreme secrecy, and escort a GenSec armored transport in Slaughterhouse and its PAYDAY 2 remake.
Despite being aware of their illegal activities and overall shadiness, the FBI hires Murkywater's mercenaries as seen in Hoxton Revenge and noted in the FBI Files, suggesting there may be connections between them.
The panel in the Diamond Heist.
They also seem to have connections with the Garnet Group company, as seen in the Diamond Heist where the panel opening the room with the big diamond is labelled with a warning saying "Do not touch this panel unless you are authorized to do so by a Murkywater representative." This may suggest that the diamond is either property of Murkywater and being held by the Garnet Group, the diamond is a shared asset between both companies, or is simply being protected by Murkywater with high priority.
Murkywater may have some sort of association with the RC-1 turret stolen in Transport: Train Heist, as a delivery order filed by Armadillo Corporation, the logo of which, seen below, only reappearing when the Point Break Heists were teased in the form of Locke hacking Crime.net. Whether Armadillo Corporation is a subsidiary company, a division of Murkywater posing as an independent company, or something else is unknown.
Operations
As said above, the main functions of the Murkywater company are providing security either through the use of their soldiers as guards or with their security systems, and transporting items of many sorts, while the main functions of the Murkywater army are to steal and move contraband and weapons, and perform hits around the globe.
Due to the illegality and overall confidential circumstances around their actions and operations, they keep almost all information regarding them and incidents involving them undisclosed, to the chagrin of the FBI. Due to this, Bain takes advantage of this by ordering the gang to steal their loot as Murkywater is incapable of reporting such thefts. However, Murkywater is not defenseless as the mercenary organization keeps tabs on its operations and is said to have even completely relocate their hidden illegal operations to avoid investigation in Murky Station after the crew steals the EMP bomb parts. Locke also hints they would attempt to silence witnesses, with him saying in Beneath the Mountain, they would kill the crew and "fuck him proper". They are also resourceful as Murkywater at some point became aware of the existence of Crime.net and resorted to "playing dirty" by tasking Locke to shut it down.
Allegedly, Murkywater has also committed terrorist acts, as in Birth of Sky, Vernon Locke mentions a PMC bombed a school (or gunned down a Ugandan village), and when bagging cocaine in Shadow Raid, Bain may say that it "won't be funding any more terrorism."
Murkywater has several known divisions:
The Logistics Division, which handles the shipping of various items around the globe. Containers branded with its logo are seen in Shadow Raid, Meltdown, Beneath the Mountain, and Birth of Sky, and the Murkywater trains in Murky Station are also branded with its logo.
An unnamed cyberwarfare division headed by Vernon Locke, which has been tasked with infiltrating and destroying Crime.net. They successfully have infiltrated Crime.net, but Locke, being the mercenary he is, instead of destroying it, offered Crime.net jobs involving stealing loot from Murkywater.
The Armadillo logo.
A Global Operations Command Executive Branch, seen on computer screens in Beneath the Mountain and security panels in Murky Station. Judging from this, one of its functions and possibly main function is managing security systems.
Locke may mention a "tomb raider" division when bagging the Lost Artifact in the Beneath the Mountain heist.
Currently unknown if a division or subsidiary company, an organization referred to as Armadillo Corporation and CS_MRKWTR filed the delivery order for the RC-1 turret stolen in Transport: Train Heist and software branded with their logo is used by Locke to deliver a message to Crime.net and in the giant monitor in the main control room in Beneath the Mountain.
Personnel and Equipment
The Murkywater unit in PAYDAY 2.
The majority of their operatives are their Murkywater PMCs, also called "Murkies" by Bain, them being equipped with top-grade ballistic armor, Eagle Heavy rifles, and Jackal sub-machine guns giving them high combat-effectiveness, prompting even government officials to hire them for security. They also appear in the first game, but are less resilient to gunfire, lack damage-absorbing helmets, and are only equipped with the standard AMCAR-4.
They may also have standard firearms beyond the Eagle Heavy and UMP45, as Locke is seen using a Baby Deagle in the Beneath the Mountain heist.
They possess various military-grade vehicles, including transport trucks, cargo planes, and the Blackhawk helicopter.
They apparently have the equipment to engage in cyberwarfare and employees with the technical know-how to use it, possibly developed by Armadillo/CS_MRKWTR.
They appear to have their own security systems, evidenced by having keycards with their own logo on them, as seen in Beneath the Mountain.
It also appears they have their own Bulldozer training program, as Bulldozers appear in areas of Murkywater facilities that the police wouldn't be able to access, as seen in Meltdown, Beneath the Mountain, and Birth of Sky.
For some reason, FBI Snipers were observed to be guarding the entrance to Black Ridge in Beneath the Mountain, long before the police force arrived. It is most likely that these were meant to be mistaken for some sort of Murkywater sniper or be a placeholder for said sniper and the darkness, their attire, and their usual positions would do the rest, but this illusion can sometimes be ruined by a Sniper on the ground engaging the crew in close combat like the other Murkies. FBI Snipers also appear at the last part of the heist, according to Locke, due to Murkywater security protocol, reinforcing these were meant to be Murkywater snipers.
Trivia
Murkywater is based on the Academi private security services contractor, formerly named "Blackwater". Murkywater's logo is loosely based on the company's 1997-2007 logo.
One of the names in the marquee in the Big Bank heist is "Murkywater Solutions". Whether this is the public name of the company or a division of the company is unknown.
