We’re entering the final stages of our long-planned network overhaul: a complete rebuild of Risk’s multiplayer backend. This update is designed to:
Improve game stability and recovery
Shut down most forms of cheating
Lay the groundwork for future multiplayer features
FIRST CLOSED BETA IN Q3
After years of internal development and testing, we’re ready to take the next step: real-world testing. The first closed beta will begin in August/July for a limited group of international players.
This will be a small group - if you signed up for beta access earlier this year, we will be running a much wider playtest later in the year and will be contacting players about that soon.
This beta build is based on v3.16, so it won’t include recent features like Secret Missions or the new Map Select screen. The goal here is to test the core networking under real player conditions.
It’s taken a while to get here - this overhaul was first roadmapped back in 2019 - and it’s been a bumpy road since then with delays, technical hurdles and global pandemics. That said, hitting our first beta is a major milestone.
WHAT WILL BE DIFFERENT?
Not much, and that’s the point. This is a backend upgrade, so games should feel largely the same. You may notice:
Fewer disconnects and crashes
More secure, cheat-resistant matches and less hackers
More recovered games, with faster recovery times when a player drops
One area we’re still fine-tuning is input responsiveness. Server-side validation can introduce slight delays - especially for fast-fingered PC users - but it’s key to preventing exploits. We’re working to strike the right balance between responsiveness, security and maintaining an even playing field between mobile and PC players.
WHY THIS OVERHAUL MATTERS
Risk’s current system relies on the host’s device to manage the game, which creates all kinds of issues. If the host drops, the game can be lost forever. Worse, with the right tools, players can tamper with game state or intercept packets in flight between clients.
The new system runs on authoritative servers, removing that dependency. This means:
Better security and stability
Recoverable games
Protection against most known hacks and packet manipulation
Server-authoratative games also open up possible future features that we couldn’t explore otherwise. After the network overhaul we can explore long requested features like:
Asynchronous games
Multiplayer save slots
Better spectator modes
WHY IT TOOK SO LONG
We underestimated the complexity early on. The original plan was to put the whole team on it and move fast - we soon realised that would mean halting all other Risk development.
So we changed tactics. This year we’ve kept a small, dedicated team focused on the overhaul while others worked on features like Secret Missions, new UI updates, block lists and future content we’ll be announcing in the coming months.
That slowed the overhaul down but it kept the rest of the game moving.
Now, with the core work behind us and real player testing ahead, we’re closer than ever to shipping this major upgrade.
Thanks for your patience. You can still sign up to express interest in our betas here.
Team@SMG