World Makers’ Social Deduction Game Deceit 2 Aims to Inject Horror Into The Genre
World Makers, the developers of the social deduction game Deceit, are launching a sequel titled Deceit 2 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC in 2023. The game is set in an occult-themed world, where the player joins the Truth Seeker Anonymous to uncover the mystery behind an occult ritual gone wrong. However, the game takes a dark turn when the player becomes trapped in a twisted game set by the Game Master, who scatters eldritch horrors and monsters amongst the party in a bid to complete a strange ritual before anyone can escape.
Deceit 2 is a social deduction horror game that prioritizes clue-hunting, monstrous masquerading, and injecting horror into the genre. The game focuses on seven Innocents who must uncover the identities of two infected players among them. The Infected must infect the Innocents before they are caught or killed. Players are constantly on edge, trying to decipher which of their teammates are Innocents or Infected.
Deceit 2 will launch with only one map. However, the game developers plan to release the Werewolf DLC alongside the second map shortly after launch. The game developers are also planning to add more maps as the game evolves and expands in scope.
The game developers have stated that the narrative threads will become clearer as the game evolves. The character in the shop who was a “hand in the wall” initially will be more fleshed out, and the Game Master will have more voice lines to help build the narrative and direction of the story. Fans of the game can also sink their teeth into more transmedia stories outside of the game, such as the ARG forum, which introduces the backstory of all the characters and the backdrop as to why they are in this place.
Deceit 2’s development started when World Makers returned to Deceit in 2020 and decided to upgrade the game further. Though initially considering large updates to the original Deceit, the developers chose to create a sequel for a combination of reasons. The game’s more sandbox-like experience requires they rebuild the game from the ground up so they can add content faster.
In two play sessions of Deceit 2’s alpha build, both lasting about 12-15 minutes, members of the developer team played with a full lobby of nine players. The developers state they are following the same formula but are making considerable changes to the game to make it more sandbox-like. They hope to take the game to the next level by injecting the horror genre into the social deduction game.
