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Deceive Inc. devs discuss the new Heat System update & free soundtrack

As part of Shacknews E7, we took a deep dive into Deceive Inc.'s latest update and free soundtrack release with the devs at Sweet Bandits.

TJ Denzer

June 15, 2023 4:15 PM

Image via Deceive Inc.

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It’s an incredibly prominent week for Deceive Inc. This week marked the arrival of a new update which reworked the Heat System, and as a bonus, Sweet Bandits Studios has made the soundtrack of the game available for free. We’ve been big supporters of Deceive Inc. since it was still in Alpha and the team was kind enough to sit down and talk about how things have been so far for the game, how this update and the free soundtrack came to be, and where you can learn more about things like the Double XP event that started today!

Sweet Bandits co-studio head Philippe Pelletier-Baribault and senior UI and sound designer Simon Chartier joined me for this lengthy interview and discussed the major details of Deceive Inc.’s latest update, which is available now on all platforms. The High Alert update reworks the Heat System introduced in the last update. Now, when players kill an NPC that’s not another spy, they will gain heat, gathering the attention of guards and increasing damage they take from other spies. It’s meant to dissuade players from going Rambo in a spy game, but it also means being  more mindful of when you start a firefight and when to retreat.

The fun doesn’t end there. Sweet Bandits also launched the Deceive Inc. soundtrack completely free to listen to on various platforms including Spotify. Given the soundtrack’s dynamic nature, where it’s cool and calm when players are stealthy and it’s intense and riveting when gunfights or escapes are going on, it sounded like an interesting task to put this music to a listenable playlist. Fortunately, Simon Chartier was up to the task. We even talked a little bit about the possibility of a vinyl version of the soundtrack.

One of the common threads on these releases and updates is that player feedback is the North Star for Deceive Inc.’s development. The team certainly has its own plans, but an intensified Heat System and the soundtrack were big asks from the community that the team was happy to deliver. It’s just one part of what has made Deceive Inc. a blast to play from the beginning.

You can check out Deceive Inc. now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, and engage in a special Double XP event all weekend from June 15 to June 19. Deceive Inc. was just one part of the Shacknews E7 2023 showcase. Be sure to stay tuned to all of our Shacknews E7 coverage, including exclusive interviews, incredible new website features, and showcases all day long.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.