One of the best shooters I’ve played. It is brutal, with numerous nuances and subtle mechanics that add to the realism.
9/10
Sandstorm carves out its own niche by offering authentic gunplay across a wide array of game modes.
9.5/10
I loved how satisfying each different gun was and it became a game in itself of figuring out which one felt more comfortable for my style of gameplay.
8.4/10
There is a real sense of adrenaline that builds as you push towards and begin capturing objectives, or enter a firefight.
7.8/10
A creative arsenal of weaponry [...] and so many add-ons; you will feel like a kid at a candy store.
8/10
One of the best shooters I’ve played. It is brutal, with numerous nuances and subtle mechanics that add to the realism.
9/10
Sandstorm carves out its own niche by offering authentic gunplay across a wide array of game modes.
9.5/10
I loved how satisfying each different gun was and it became a game in itself of figuring out which one felt more comfortable for my style of gameplay.
8.4/10
There is a real sense of adrenaline that builds as you push towards and begin capturing objectives, or enter a firefight.
7.8/10
A creative arsenal of weaponry [...] and so many add-ons; you will feel like a kid at a candy store.
/ Project overview /
Pingle & NWI and Saber Interactive
About the game
Insurgency: Sandstorm is a multiplayer FPS GaaS by NWI and Saber Interactive, published by Focus Entertainment. Its tactical, close-quarters combat attracted a loyal niche player base. To keep them engaged, the game relies on constant updates and customization — new maps, weapons, game modes.
Client
Solution
Porting
LiveOps
Engine
Unreal Engine
Platforms
Release
PC
December 12, 2018
Consoles
September 2021
Partnership timeline
2020-2023
About Pingle & NWI and Saber partnership
Pingle had 3 productive years of partnership with NWI and Saber, starting as their porting partner. Over time, we took on more responsibilities, becoming their live team and, eventually, a full-fledged content and functionality development partner.
The [Pingle] team was passionate about the project, had high production values, delivered releases on time and communicated effectively with multiple parties: original developer NWI, publisher Focus Home and production and QA group at Saber.
Anton Krupkin
CTO at Saber Interactive
/ The Challenge /
Scaling and maintaining the GaaS shooter
The year was 2018. NWI and Saber Interactive launched their first-person shooter on PC.
Realistic combat. Brutal gunplay. No aim assist, no second chances. That’s Insurgency: Sandstorm. It had what it takes to succeed as a long-running GaaS title — a loyal community, strong core mechanics, and potential to expand.
But keeping a live-service game alive takes more than just great gameplay. It requires constant updates, live technical support, and expanding to new platforms.
With their core dev team moving on to new projects, NWI and Saber needed a trusted partner to scale their hit.
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/ Phase 1 /
Insurgency: Sandstorm becomes a console hit
In 2020, NWI and Saber teamed up with Pingle Studio to bring Insurgency: Sandstorm to consoles and reach a whole new player base.
In six months, we got the game ready for certification on PS4 and Xbox One, with backward compatibility for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Our team:
1
Switched custom matchmaking to Epic Online Services (EOS) to keep the multiplayer running smoothly
2
Added full gamepad support and redesigned the UI to feel natural on consoles
3
Optimized the game for Gen8 hardware, e.g., reworked the explosions and weapon penetration balance
The console release in September 2021 earned “critical acclaim,” as Saber’s CTO Anton Krupkin highlights.
In 2023, Insurgency: Sandstorm landed on Xbox Game Pass, available to millions of subscribers.
The result? A 3x increase in the player base.
We also enabled cross-platform play, connecting players across Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, and consoles.
Key things we did:
1
Adapted the matchmaking backend
to ensure players could join matches based on their setups while factoring in which platform they were playing from.
2
Enabled full keyboard and mouse support
on Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles in all game menus and during gameplay.
3
Built a cross-party system
to let PC and console players team up and play together.
4
Integrated additional game settings
to give players control over matchmaking and input settings. They can turn crossplay on or off and choose between keyboard & mouse or gamepad for PvE and PvP matches.
As a result, the game’s loyal player base got bigger. And they had plenty of stuff to enjoy because Insurgency: Sandstorm had a top LiveOps.
/ Phase 3 /
3 years of nonstop LiveOps keeps the game fresh
Six months into our collaboration, NWI and Saber started delegating content creation to us: art, concepts, 3D weapon models, skins, and more.
We worked with six-month roadmaps to plan, create, and support LiveOps for each update, delivering new content, patches, balance changes, and ongoing improvements.
A dedicated Live Team of 50 people from Pingle shipped 6 major updates and countless patches:
1
Dozens of new content items — characters, outfits, weapons, from concept to final implementation
2
New game modes and refinements to existing ones
3
Two original maps, Prison and Last Light, built from scratch, including all environment art
4
Full post-release support, fixing bugs, and polishing new content
5
Ongoing backend improvements to keep the game stable
6
Marketing materials for all updates
Insurgency: Sandstorm didn’t just “stay alive”. It thrived. One of our updates hit 98% positive reviews on Steam.
At some point, we weren’t just completing tasks. We shaped the game. Our team knew its tone — what worked, what didn’t. We listened to its lively community, analyzed feedback, and brought ideas to life. Over time, NWI & Saber gave us more responsibility, trusting us to lead development while they focused on the bigger picture.
Serhii Khmelov
Project Manager at Pingle
/ The results /
From PC exclusive to cross-platform GaaS powerhouse
Before
After
PC-only release
PC-only releaseExpanded to PS & Xbox with full gamepad support
Players locked to separate platforms
Seamless crossplay between PC, Xbox, and PS
Limited exposure beyond the core audience
Game Pass release tripled the active player base
No structured LiveOps
6 major updates with full-scale LiveOps support
Content pipeline needed to scale
New maps, weapons, game modes, and customization features
/ The team /
Cast
56 Pingle specialists at the peak of development, including:
2D artists
3D artists
Tech artists
QA engineers
Level designers
Game designers
Project managers
Unreal Engine developers
/ Cases /
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