We’re sure there’s no need to introduce Tripwire Interactive – the publisher of cult classics like Rising Storm/Red Orchestra, the Killing Floor Franchise, Maneater, and Chivalry 2. Being aware of the lineup and legacy of the games they published had us very excited to work together.

Deceive Inc. fits right in with the rich history of Tripwire Interactive. In the game, you pick from a cast of charming and diverse secret agents oozing with personality and compete in a 3v3v3 of subterfuge, sabotage, and skill to neutralize the competition.

Developed by Sweet Bandits Studios, Deceive Inc. combines different spy story aesthetics and flavors, fascinating gadgets, and locales straight out of your favorite spy thrillers to build a gameplay loop that makes you feel like a Hollywood super spy.

Initially, our job was to port Deceive Inc. to 9th-gen consoles XBOX Series X/S and PlayStation 5). However, as our cooperation went on, we ended up helping with Steam and Epic Games integration.

The hardest part came from implementing cross-platform capabilities for matchmaking, achievement integration, and similar multiplayer-specific bugs.

The fact that we only had to port the game to the latest-gen consoles made the task much easier. The bulk of the work went as smoothly as it could have, especially thanks to the clear communication between us, the developer, and the publisher.

When it came to matchmaking, we ran into problems with desynchronization between clients. After trying a variety of solutions, like increasing the data sync frequency or using alternative subsystem APIs, we manage to find an easy fix with the help of the great people working server-side.

Due to the lack of Unreal Engine’s Online Subsystem API calls, we got in deep and added custom functionalities from the native side.

Lastly, another big challenge came from using Accelbyte as the cross-platform matchmaking solution. Syncing natively blocked user lists along with Accelbyte block lists proposed a long list of potentially bad scenarios. However, we managed to cover even the most unlikely of edge cases to find the right system callbacks that allowed for flawless list syncing.

In the end, Deceive Inc. was one of our favorite multiplayer games to work on. We learned a lot while working hard to bring gamers the intense and clever spy thriller action even the biggest blockbusters couldn’t scoff at.

Now you can delve into the world of sabotage, spycraft, and assassination yourself on PC, Xbox Series X and S, and PlayStation 5.