I’m incredibly excited to announce the upcoming Steam release date for Project RedTeam: Contract Offensive, launching October 2026.
Project RedTeam has been an idea I’ve held onto for a long time, and something I’ve been determined to turn from a concept into a real, playable game. As a solo developer with a full-time career in cyber security, finding the hours to build a full game isn’t easy. This year I made it a personal goal to take the risk, put in the development time, and commit to bringing the idea into reality.
The concept for this game comes directly from my professional life in cyber security, but the reason it exists is because of my personal addiction to the gameplay loops perfected by Belatro, CloverPit, Slay the Spire, and many other amazing roguelites. I’ve lost count of how many hours I’ve spent chasing the perfect run.
Project RedTeam takes the core elements I love: single-life runs, probabilistic rewards, distinct playstyle choices, and applies them to the theme of real-world network intrusions.
The card-based system grew naturally out of my understanding of offensive security tradecraft and the science behind enterprise intrusions. I saw a clear path to representing hacking tactics using a real-world classification model (MITRE ATT&CK), and built the core gameplay around maintaining accuracy while still keeping things approachable and fun. I’m confident the initial release will provide a strong foundation for many future updates.
Every tactic you deploy maps to a real stage of a network intrusion. Every procedurally generated network you attack is modeled after real-world enterprise network architecture.
Inside a target network, you’ll obtain credentials: local, global, privileged, or unprivileged. You’ll create temporary footholds through Initial Access exploits, and establish permanent footholds using Persistence techniques that resist being burned. Defense Evasion tactics help you stay quiet, reduce detection, and weaken security controls. As you execute payloads and move laterally, forensic artifacts accumulate, handled through Anti-Forensics tactics if you want to keep the blue team guessing.
You’ll also find rare agency items that can be equipped or consumed to give your runs more depth and variance. Some items provide client-side exploit advantages, like gaining a foothold on a workstation through a phishing email or a watering-hole attack. The deeper and stealthier your foothold, the less you need to kick in the front door.
The goal of each run is simple: obtain enough funds to initiate your next contract. How you earn those funds is entirely up to you. Do you stay aligned with the contract objectives? Take on side bounties for extra risk and reward? Skip the objective entirely and earn money through out-of-scope means? There are many ways to approach a run, and I’ve had a lot of fun keeping my agency afloat through some questionable last-ditch efforts that sometimes pay off and keep the run going.
And that’s really the heart of Project RedTeam. Every run tells its own story and teaches real cyber security concepts along the way. Sometimes you execute a clean, surgical intrusion that hits every objective perfectly. Other times you’re scrambling to keep your agency alive, pulling off risky plays, improvising footholds, and squeezing out just enough profit to survive another contract.
Those unpredictable moments, the ones where everything is on fire but you somehow pull it off, are my favorite part of the game, and I’ve worked hard to make sure they shine.
Project RedTeam: Contract Offensive has been built with a lot of care, deep thoughts, numerous iterations over late nights, and a genuine love for both cyber security and addicting gameplay loops. I’m excited to finally share it with you, and even more excited to see the strategies, stories, and ridiculous runs players come up with once the game is in your hands.
Thank you for reading this, supporting the project, and being part of this journey. October 2026 is just the beginning. There’s much more planned, and I can’t wait to show you what comes next.
See you on release day.
Dev <3
If Project RedTeam: Contract Offensive seems like a game you or someone you know would enjoy, adding it to your Steam Wishlist or talking about it helps more than you might think. As a solo developer without a marketing team, visibility and momentum come directly from players. Your support truly helps this project reach more people. My hope is that this game leaves its players with more knowledge and interest in cyber security.