Decoy Games

Decoy Games is an independent video game developer and publisher based in Massachusetts, creating original games for PC and consoles. Founded in 2012 by brothers Ahmed Abdullah and Khalil Abdullah, the Black-owned studio focuses on proprietary intellectual property, with capabilities spanning action game design, cooperative play and cross-platform multiplayer.

The studio grew from a Flash game prototype Khalil developed while studying computer science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. That early project, Swimsanity: The Adventures of Mooba Jiver the Scooba Diver, became the starting point for the brothers’ commercial game development business. After developing the project alongside their corporate careers, they moved into full-time development in 2018.

Original games and multiplayer

The studio’s flagship release, Swimsanity!, is an underwater multiplayer action shooter built around cooperative and competitive play. It launched on Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC through Steam in August 2020, followed by PlayStation 4 in October 2020. Its eight game modes and cross-platform multiplayer connected players across PC and the major consoles.

Post-launch development included the Shock Drones Unleash downloadable content, expanding the game’s weapons and abilities. The title subsequently surpassed 1.4 million downloads worldwide after appearances on Xbox Games with Gold and Amazon Prime Gaming.

Following that release, Decoy Games expanded its development team across the United States and secured a major publishing agreement for another original PC and console project. The supplied research identifies that project as unannounced and in development. Original first-party games remain the focus of the studio’s production business.