Cryptic Studios Enables Remote Game Development Globally with Splashtop

High-performance remote access for creative teams, strict data control, and global collaboration for successful online games.

Impact

Increased Productivity for Global Creative Teams

More than 150 game developers access high-performance workstations remotely with low latency and full Wacom stylus support, maintaining the same precision and quality as in-studio.

Greater Security for Proprietary Game Assets

Single sign-on integration, strict access controls and MFA ensured sensitive source code and creative assets remained secure and private.

Accelerated Project Timelines and Profitability

Distributed teams across multiple continents worked together seamlessly on U.S.-based systems, accelerating production timelines and eliminating delays.

Challenges

Ralph Lacy, Director of Operations at Cryptic Studios, leads IT operations for a global team building online games like Neverwinter, Star Trek Online, Champions Online and more.

The studio’s artists, animators, and developers rely on powerful, multi-terabyte workstations running a proprietary game engine and custom toolsets, resources that cannot simply be installed on a laptop.

Before Splashtop, the studio’s remote workflows were breaking down:

• Existing remote tools like VNC failed to transmit stylus data, tilt, or pressure sensitivity from Wacom tablets. RDP ran in a separate session from the user, breaking real-time collaboration and testing.
• Legacy tools had no MFA, weak encryption, and limited role-based permissions, creating potential IP leakage risks for proprietary assets.
• File transfers were cumbersome and unsafe, requiring VPN-only transfers that slowed down workflows.
• Distributed teams around the world struggled with latency, making real-time collaboration difficult.

“We built our own engine. We built our own source control. These aren’t tools you can just install on a laptop. We needed a way to make our on-prem environments accessible - securely and globally.”, explained Ralph.

Cryptic Studios needed a secure, high-performance remote access solution to support Wacom-driven creative workflows, safeguard proprietary game assets, and connect teams worldwide.

From Our Happy Customer

We moved from 100% onsite to fully remote in two weeks. Splashtop made that possible, and with zero compromise on security.

Ralph Lacy, Director of Operations, Cryptic Studios

Our artists use Splashtop daily from Germany, Singapore, and Eastern Europe to access systems here in California. Performance and reliability have been excellent.

Ralph Lacy, Director of Operations, Cryptic Studios

We needed something that just worked with Wacom, with our custom tools, with zero file egress risk. Splashtop delivered.

Ralph Lacy, Director of Operations, Cryptic Studios

Resolution

• Remote Access with Wacom and Stylus Support: Splashtop’s Wacom Bridge delivers full stylus pressure, tilt, and button control, enabling artists to work remotely with the same precision as on-site.
• Strong Security Controls: Integration with Active Directory, MFA, end-to-end encryption, and role-based permissions ensured every remote session was compliant and fully auditable, and actions like file transfers were disabled for select users.
• Rapid Rollout and Long-Term Adoption: Pre-configured packages enabled deployment to more than 150 workstations in under two weeks, and Splashtop remains central to Cryptic’s global workflows today.
• Speedy Cross-Continent Connectivity: Distributed teams connect to U.S.-based systems with the performance and reliability required for real-time collaboration.

“This wasn’t a temporary fix. It became core to how our distributed team’s work. Splashtop just worked.”

~ Ralph Lacy, Director of Operations, Cryptic Studios

About the Customer

Cryptic Studios is an industry leader in the development of free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing games for PC and console platforms. With a focus on innovation, high-quality visuals, and immersive audio, the studio delivers engaging and world-class gaming experiences to a global audience.