SpyParty is coming to Steam early access after 8 years of development
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The first time SpyParty was mentioned here was in 2010, and we’ve not written about it since 2015, so you could be forgiven for forgetting that it existed. But it does indeed still exist, and after eight years of development, it's coming to Steam early access. There's a new trailer below that breaks down the simple but seductive premise.
SpyParty is a competitive multiplayer romp where players control either a spy or a sniper. The spy is tasked with infiltrating a fancy shmancy party where they’ll have to bug dignitaries, steal priceless objects and seduce unsuspecting guests, as one does at social events. The wrinkle? The entire time, the sniper is across the street, trying to figure out who the spy is.
The sniper, then, becomes a remote detective, studying the guests and attempting to figure out who is just a harmless NPC and who’s a nefarious secret agent. And the spy, as well as completing all their objectives, must try to avoid drawing the sniper’s attention or doing anything that an NPC wouldn’t.
While 8 years is a very long time for a game to be in development, it’s come a long way. Here’s the first screenshot we posted way back in 2010:
That is not a party I want to be invited to.
It will be launching on Steam early access “soon”, but there’s no indication of a final release date. In the FAQ, developer Chris Hecker says that there’s still a lot of work to do and estimates around two years more work - while admitting that he's terrible at estimating times.