Candy Bandits Closes Its Doors: The Rise and Fall of Deceive Inc’s Developer
Deceive Inc creator Candy Bandits Studios has ceased operations.
The Canadian independent studio announced the closure in a brief forum message, revealing it has reached a “crisis point.”
“There truly isn’t an easy way to state this: The Candy Bandits team is no longer operational. After a long and challenging journey trying to bring Deceive Inc to a stage where it could flourish, we have now reached the brink of collapse for the studio, unable to continue this journey with you,” states the message.
“Although this is a time of profound sadness for us, we are grateful to have been able to create this universe and share it with all of you. We have been inspired by the dedication of this community, which has motivated us throughout the development process, urging us to strive to unlock this project’s true potential. We’ve invested our hearts into this game, and nothing brings us greater joy than seeing it resonate with people around the globe.”
The Candy Bandits website indicates that the studio had a workforce of 18 individuals.
Deceive Inc was released in March 2023 and currently boasts a ‘very positive’ rating on Steam from nearly 4,500 player reviews. Despite this favorable reception, Candy Bandits has faced challenges in sustaining the project.
SteamDB reports that the multiplayer stealth shooter has struggled to maintain more than 200 concurrent players over the past six months. It reportedly achieved an all-time peak of 8,632 concurrent players in May 2023, but player engagement seems to have drastically declined since that time.
Deceive Inc is also available on consoles such as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S. It remains unclear how the title has performed on those platforms.
Candy Bandits is currently collaborating with publisher Tripwire Interactive in an effort to preserve the title. “We are exploring options, with the aim of keeping the game we all cherish,” it added. “We will share updates with everyone once we have further information. For now, servers and game access will continue as they currently are.”
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Game Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and writer with over ten years of experience in the gaming industry. His byline has appeared in major print and digital media outlets such as Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered significant industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop:Brighton. He has also served on the judging panel for The Develop Awards.