Manticore Games goes all in on Epic for Out of Time

Developed by Manticore Games and set in a splintered world where past, present, and future merge, Out of Time is a multiplayer co-op roguelike through collapsing and colliding timelines. 

Manticore went “all in on Epic” to develop the game, creating it with the help of Unreal Engine 5, leveraging Epic Online Services for Voice Chat, and launching exclusively on the Epic Games Store through the First Run program.

We caught up with the studio’s CEO Frederic Descamps and CTO Christian Wilson to find out why they chose to lean into the Epic ecosystem for this release—and how that decision has paid off.

Can you please start by telling us what Out of Time is all about?

Frederic Descamps, CEO: Out of Time is the first MMO-leaning multiplayer roguelike game. It’s set in a massive and beautiful universe after all timelines have collapsed.

Played co-op from one to four players (single players can do solo runs or use matchmaking), Out of Time features several new and original gameplay elements, such as a mix-and-match / you-are-what-you-wear gear-based ability system, a co-op shared-stats mechanic called the Tether, intense and chaotic combat—and all that in a persistent and gorgeous universe spread across time and space! We also have a lot of native social features such as global chat, advanced friends list, and more…a bit like an MMO, some would say.
 
How does Out of Time represent an evolution for you as a studio?

Christian Wilson, CTO: Having already developed the Core Platform using Unreal Engine 4, it was a natural evolution for us to adopt Unreal Engine 5 and use features like World Partition, Niagara, and custom network replication graphs to help realize our vision for the game.

What were some of the inspirations behind Out of Time?

Descamps: Players have mentioned that Out of Time reminds them of a mix between Overwatch, Vampire Survivors, Fortnite, and the WoW dungeons—or even the original Gauntlet!

You’ve gone “all in on Epic” for this project, using Unreal Engine 5, Epic Online Services, and releasing exclusively on Epic Games Store (EGS). Why?

Descamps: Epic is, and always has been, a great partner. UE5 was the obvious choice due to our familiarity and—let’s just say—how great other games similar to ours look and play. 

Wilson: Likewise, integrating Epic Online Services was a no-brainer considering the core feature set of the service as well as the ease of integration in the UE ecosystem. Simply put, using EOS has helped our team spend more time on the unique aspects of our game. It took very little time for us to add things like voice chat, giving us time back to spend on gameplay.


How did updating to Unreal Engine 5 impact your vision for the game? What opportunities for player experience did it unlock for the team?

Wilson: Many of the new or enhanced features in Unreal Engine 5 have been used directly in Out of Time. Using World Partition, Data Layers, and HLODs allowed us to more easily create larger levels and optimize how our maps are built, managed, and loaded. To create exciting fast-paced combat with hordes of enemies, we use many Unreal Engine 5 features such as Niagara and a custom replication graph. More recently, we’ve expanded our adoption of Unreal Motion Graphics (UMG) and MVVM, which has helped remove bottlenecks when developing new UIs.

As an indie developer, how does having everything you need out of the box with UE, including source code, help you level the playing field with larger studios?

Wilson: Generally speaking, all of the capabilities of Unreal Engine taken together have meant that our team can focus more on the unique aspects of our game. Our engineering and art teams have been able to focus on gameplay, UI, AI, networking, and optimization. 
 
You also used Epic Online Services (EOS) for voice chat. How are you employing voice chat in Out of Time?

Wilson: In Out of Time, players can squad up with up to three other players. When a player joins a squad, they’re able to communicate with other squad members over voice chat. 

Players can then coordinate on their loadouts ahead of the run and better communicate with each other during a run. Playing with voice chat also makes the game more exciting because you get to hear other players reacting to different situations.

Integrating EOS for voice chat was straightforward and fast for us. We were able to get an initial implementation working end to end very quickly. 

What drove you to choose EOS for voice chat?

Wilson: Out of Time is built on top of the Unreal Engine, so it made it a logical choice for us to choose EOS for ease of implementation. EOS also provides visibility into voice chat usage information through the Dev Portal.

Any lessons learned from working with EOS that other devs should know?

Wilson: Overall, there were no surprises during development and the integration went as planned. One learning with EOS was that since we added it later in our development cycle and hadn’t mapped out our sandbox/deployment structure up front, we had to rethink our pipelines and backend environments to map to EOS deployments and sandbox workflow. Next time, we would map these components out ahead of time and use EGS and EOS for internal development from the beginning.
 
Are you looking at expanding the way you use EOS in the future?

Wilson: We are continually evaluating EOS features that can improve our games and the player experience. Three EOS features that may complement Out of Time in the future include Leaderboards, Presence, and Anti-Cheat. 

The Leaderboards interface would support competition among players for the fastest run times. The Presence interface would allow players to see which location their friends are playing in. Finally, Anti-Cheat may be invaluable as we explore more competitive game modes.

You’re launching exclusively on Epic Games Store through our First Run program. Why did that make sense for Out of Time?

Descamps: We chose the First Run program because it genuinely helps us build a better future for Out of Time. The enhanced revenue share means more resources go directly into the content and updates we have planned after launch. Bineg featured on the Epic Games Store has helped more players actually discover the game, and we see exclusively launching with the First Run program as something that benefits both us as developers and, of course, players in the long run.
 
What tips would you give other devs launching on EGS who are looking for resources, tools, or promotional opportunities?

Wilson: It’s still early days for us, but we’d recommend working proactively with the Epic partner managers; utilize the Developer Portal’s ability to support some of the EOS integrations like achievements; and provide great marketing resources as early as you can and to the highest possible quality.

Looking back, how did the combination of UE5, EOS, and EGS shape what was possible for Out of Time compared to other approaches you considered?

Wilson: By using UE5, EOS, and EGS, we’re able to leverage an integrated tech stack that streamlines development, provides usage data, and allows us to ship faster. The enhanced tools in UE5, the core multiplayer features in EOS, and the aligned audience and revenue share on the Epic Games Store all work together—giving us more time to focus on making a great game.

Now that the game has launched, what’s next for Manticore?

Descamps: We’re all in for Out of Time. Post-launch, our focus is on growing our audience and making sure our existing players continue to love the game. We have an exciting, unannounced roadmap full of surprises for later on in 2025 and beyond that will be another big focus.

Where should people go to learn more about Out of Time?

For more information on Out of Time, visit outoftime.com, and follow us on social media, Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Discord.