Public Game Playtest week finally arrived, and it turned into one of the wildest moments in our journey rebuilding My Life as a Spy. More than 50 players joined our game for the first time, but one unexpected mistake allowed a player to access files that should never have left our studio. Despite the chaos, the experience proved that the game had something special.
Public Game Playtest Week Eight
Eight weeks ago, this version of My Life as a Spy did not exist. We acquired the rights to a 25-year-old cult classic and started rebuilding it in 3D.
Our small team of 11 developers and artists worked without a publisher or outside funding. We built multiplayer systems, agency wars, combat mechanics, document runs, traps, and headquarters while preparing for our first major milestone.
Week eight focused on one thing only.
Getting ready for our first Public Game Playtest. Watch Here!
50 Strangers Played My Spy Game
Public Game Playtest Pressure Was Real
Fans of the original game waited more than 25 years to see this world return. Many of them joined our Discord to experience the new version.
Several professional game developers also participated. Some of them work on major franchises such as Halo and The Witcher.
That raised the pressure for everyone on the team.
The pressure had been building for weeks. Earlier milestones included designing the core gameplay loop, introducing major spy systems, and making the world finally feel alive.
We wanted players to see a polished experience, but problems appeared before launch.
The Map Needed Emergency Work
Our original map was not ready for players.
One developer spent 36 straight hours rebuilding the city from the ground up. During the same period, the rest of the team worked on menus, prompts, networking systems, weapons, props, and user interface improvements.
Much of that work happened during our previous dedicated game server update, where we optimized performance and prepared the game for outside players.
By the day before launch, the game finally started to feel alive.
Public Game Playtest Almost Started Late
Our plan looked simple.
Build the game at 4:30 PM.
Launch the playtest at 7:00 PM.
Reality had different plans.
Builds from different computers produced different results. Build times became painfully slow. Players filled our Discord asking whether the game was ready.
Five minutes before launch, the build still failed.
Finally, at 7:07 PM, we released the game.
The first Public Game Playtest had officially begun.
Public Game Playtest Brings 50 Players
Players flooded into the server. They explored headquarters, fought each other, discovered bugs we had never seen. Some players became stuck in strange places. Others struggled with controls and menus.
Still, watching strangers enjoy our game felt incredible.
The player list overflowed, and our engineers proudly shared screenshots of everyone online.
For the first time, My Life as a Spy felt like a real online game.
Public Game Playtest Gets Hacked
Then disaster struck.
One player started flying across rooftops like Neo from The Matrix.
At first, it looked like some kind of attack. The truth was much simpler. We accidentally shipped our development tools with the game. Because we rushed to hit the deadline, files marked “Do Not Ship” ended up inside the public build.
A player discovered them and started experimenting.
It was embarrassing.
It was funny.
Most importantly, it showed us why playtests matter.
Why The Public Game Playtest Was Still A Success
Even with the problems, players stayed.
At peak hours, more than 25 players shared the world together.
The server in New York handled everything without crashing once.
Someone even connected from Australia and played smoothly.
The session lasted over four hours, and players continued logging in throughout the weekend.
That proved something important.
The game survived.
Some difficult design decisions made in previous weeks also helped us reach this stage, including removing features that were not adding enough value.
More importantly, people enjoyed it.
Power Struggle Created Competition
One of our newest systems became a surprise hit.
The Power Struggle system tracked which agency dominated the city.
Red Agency led early.
Green Agency made a comeback.
In the end, Black Agency claimed victory during the first official war.
Players immediately understood the competition and embraced it.
Public Game Playtest Feedback Changed Everything
The next morning, our team gathered for a full postmortem.
We reviewed every compliment and every bug report.
Players reported:
- Confusing controls
- Balance issues
- Missing onboarding
- Problems loading characters
- Falling through stairs
- Teleportation bugs
However, players also praised many systems.
Combat felt fun.
Agency wars created excitement.
The world encouraged strategy.
Most importantly, players wanted more.
Several AAA developers sent messages saying they could not believe what our small team achieved in less than two months.
Those messages meant a lot.
A Senior Engineer Helped Us
Something incredible happened after the playtest.
A senior engineer from another studio examined one of our networking problems.
He identified the root cause and even provided a one-line solution.
People do not volunteer that kind of help for projects they consider hopeless.
That support showed us that others believed in what we were building.
Public Game Playtest Forced Us To Improve
Week eight also brought difficult decisions.
We parted ways with our level designer because the results were not meeting expectations.
Our build process gained stricter rules.
Accountability increased across the team.
The studio itself grew stronger.
We failed in public.
But we survived in public too.
Public Game Playtest Feature Highlights
Despite the chaos, we shipped many improvements.
Public Game Playtest Added Agency Letters
New players now receive recruitment letters from each agency.
Choosing an agency became a roleplaying experience instead of a menu.
Each faction welcomes players with its own message.
Public Game Playtest Added Spy Specialties
Players now select major and minor specialties.
Stealth experts begin with bonus skill points.
Different combinations create different playstyles.
Public Game Playtest Improved The HUD
We redesigned the interface to match the spy theme.
Players use an NPS field communicator inspired by 1987 technology.
The inventory uses a manila folder style with Polaroid visuals.
Public Game Playtest Improved Agency Wars
Power Struggle tracks actions across the world.
Combat, traps, documents, and missions all contribute toward agency victory.
The system gives players a reason to compete.
Public Game Playtest Added Trap Indicators
Players can now see their own traps.
Agents with strong perception skills can discover enemy traps and turn them against opponents.
Public Game Playtest Added More Polish
We improved:
- Death screens
- Security node models
- Stat tooltips
- Vendor visuals
- Inventory flow
- Notifications
- User interface feedback
The game made a huge leap forward during week eight.
Looking Ahead
Our first Public Game Playtest exposed mistakes, bugs, and weaknesses.
It also proved that people enjoyed the experience. Players stayed online. Fans returned. Developers offered help. The community believed in what we were building. Eight weeks ago, this game existed only as an idea.
Today, players from around the world can jump into My Life as a Spy together.
Next, we will continue expanding the game and hold even more playtests.
The road ahead remains challenging, but week eight proved one thing.
We are building something worth fighting for.