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International espionage has never been such a riot. Channeling the retro chaos of Austin Powers, with a touch of Bond’s cold deadliness, Deceive Inc. drops players into a world of winner-takes-all multi-spy gameplay. In a series of frantic yet surprisingly strategic scenarios, it’s the players who know when to keep their cool and when to let rip who will escape with the prize. Intel Gaming Access chased down Philippe Pelletier Baribault, co-studio head and designer on Deceive Inc. at Sweet Bandits Studios, and Mike Stone, senior producer on the game at Tripwire Interactive, to find out who has the best gadgets.
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Deceive Inc. is a competitive multiplayer game where social stealth and fast-paced action go hand-in-hand. Players go undercover, bristling with cool tech, and use a tactical blend of subterfuge and firepower to extract the prize before anyone else. “We wanted to deliver a game that captures the tense nature of spy action thrillers in a player-versus-player setting,” said Philippe. “I think fans of extraction shooters and social stealth games will find something to love in the game.”
The vintage-styled settings are populated by more than just your rival spies, making it simultaneously easy for you to hide and difficult to spot your opponents doing the same. “The big thing that holds the entire experience together is the mechanic of blending in with the crowd using cover,” said Philippe. “Our levels are full of hundreds of non-player characters going about their own lives, and players can interact with any single one to take their appearance on the fly.” 
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The thrill of suspecting other characters of being spies keeps the game tense even in calmer moments. This aspect, coupled with the cast of uniquely skilled and armed enemy agents, makes Deceive Inc. an action-packed spy sandbox ripe for a variety of sneaky strategies and outrageous tactics. “We like to say that no trick is too dirty in Deceive Inc.!” added Philippe.
Inspired Espionage
The influence of classic spy action films shines through in the game’s look and feel, plunging the player into an audiovisual world that’s appealingly familiar and a ton of fun. “As you can imagine, spy movies were a big point of inspiration,” said Philippe. “We really looked into the wilder side of the genre with the 1970’s influence where funky gadgets and groovy fashion was all the rage. It was a strong pillar for the entire visual identity of the game.”
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The team needed to look beyond the rich universe of silver-screen espionage when it came to honing the game’s all-important multiplayer mechanics, however. “From a gameplay perspective we had a variety of inspirations from the old Assassin’s Creed multiplayer mode to Hunt: Showdown and Overwatch,” said Philippe. 
The successful fusion of styles and gameplay influences in Deceive Inc. took time to perfect. “As making a game is a very iterative process, the project evolved over the years, and looking at these inspirations helped to weave them together in a more natural way over time,” said Philippe. “It’s quite challenging to mesh stealth and first-person shooter action, but through iteration we really made them influence each other in meaningful ways.”
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Spy-optimized PC
As with most games, playing on a PC with a decent spec will let Deceive Inc. shine to its full potential, but it’s far from the most performance-hungry game you’ll play this year. “The barrier of entry for PC players to play Deceive Inc. is quite low,” said Mike. “Minimum system requirements are very reasonable, and the option for players to use Intel® Xe Super Sampling (XeSS) technology lets even more people partake in the excitement.” 
Making the game run great with so much intense multiplayer action going on has required some serious optimization work, but it’s been a worthwhile investment. “Since the game is not entirely a slow-paced stealth affair, we want it to feel very fast and smooth in combat scenarios,” said Philippe. “Juggling the sprawling levels, high number of NPCs, and fast-paced action is a big challenge, but it’s very important to us that the game runs as well as it possibly can.”
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As Deceive Inc. prepares to unleash its undercover multiplayer mayhem on the world, the team is well into its plans for what comes next, thanks in no small part to the wealth of feedback the player community has already provided. “We’re gearing up for launch and planning ahead for exciting new stuff to come for Deceive Inc.,” said Philippe. “We’ve received great feedback from our previous Alpha and Beta tests and are working hard to get some of the changes players have been asking for in updates after launch.”
“We’re also already working on new gameplay content for Deceive Inc.,” added Philippe. “Expect new agents to join the cast and other surprises in the coming months!”
<a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/820520/Deceive_Inc/">Buy Deceive Inc. on Steam</a>

Check out this multiplayer riot of espionage fun

Preview: Cool and Deadly Spylife in Deceive Inc.