Cryptark: Porting a Sci-Fi Roguelike Shooter to PS4

Title: Cryptark
Release Date: 2017
Developer: Alientrap
Publisher: Alientrap
Platforms: PlayStation 4
Engine: MonoGame

Cryptark is a 2D sci-fi roguelike from Alientrap where you play a privateer boarding and dismantling procedurally generated alien ships. It’s a twin-stick shooter on the surface, but there’s real tactical depth underneath… managing your loadout, prioritizing which ship systems to take down first, surviving the chaos when you don’t. Sickhead handled the PS4 port, launching the same day as PC. Getting a game like this onto console isn’t just a matter of remapping controls. The procedural generation, the real-time combat, the layered ship systems all of it needs to run cleanly on PS4 hardware, and the twin-stick input has to feel native, not translated.

The game was built on XNA/MonoGame. a framework Sickhead knows better than almost anyone. We had co-developed Brute, an internal tool that transpiles MonoGame’s C# bytecode (CIL) into native C++, then compiles it against console-specific libraries. It’s roughly analogous to what Unity does with IL2CPP, but purpose-built for the MonoGame pipeline. That tooling is what makes porting a MonoGame title to PS4 practical in the first place, and Cryptark ran through that pipeline to ship alongside the PC version on day one. MonoGame was familiar ground for us, but every game brings its own set of problems, and a system-heavy roguelike with this much happening on screen at once is its own kind of challenge. Alientrap is a small studio. Handing off the PS4 port meant they could focus on the game itself and still ship on a platform they wouldn’t have had the bandwidth to reach on their own.

Cryptark’s simultaneous PC and PS4 launch meant no grace period. The port had to be done when the game was done. Getting a procedurally driven, combat-heavy roguelike shipping clean on console on day one is exactly the kind of work Sickhead was built for.

Sickhead Games is the leading game porting studio, skilled in porting Unity, Unreal, Godot, and custom engine titles to every major console and handheld including Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. We’re trusted by solo indie developers and major publishers alike to handle everything from codebase assessment to post-launch support, bringing great games to the audiences they deserve. Satisfied clients and partners include Humble Games, Sony Interactive, Nintendo, Annapurna, Good Games, ConcernedApe, MegaCrit, 17-Bit, Maddy Makes Games, Zachtronics, Keen Software House, Thomas Happ, Pocketwatch Games, EXOK, Young Horses, Taito, Jaleco, and Microsoft. We’ve ported over 100 releases including Stardew Valley, Slay the Spire, TowerFall, Axiom Verge, and Space Engineers, and also specialize in bringing retro console and PC games to modern audiences like Grandia, Enclave, and Jaleco Sports titles.