In December 2025, Brian Douglas released Rift Raider Extraction, working by himself on a laptop with a dream of quickly creating a game and building it up over time. Formerly of Call of Duty fame, Douglas has told the tale of trying to raise capital for game development in a world where investments are dwindling.
The answer was to pivot into a growing market and genre, piecing together an extraction shooter with a neat twist. In his words, it’s a fusion between Minecraft and Geometry Wars with extraction mechanics thrown in to keep things intense.
Small but Mighty
Rift Raider Extraction, a mobile-exclusive extraction shooter, recently hit 1,000 downloads on the Google Play store. This major milestone is a testament to the work of Brian Douglas, the sole developer working at Mystic Realm Games.
In a PR pack, Douglas explains that Rift Raider Extraction was created by a single person without the use of AI and managed to get off the ground remarkably quickly. Douglas said:
It all came together so naturally, I knew in the first week this felt right.
Brian manufactured Rift Raider Extraction in just seven weeks, putting it to market without a price tag and pulling in positive reviews straight out of the gate. Years ago, Brian worked in the first-person shooter space, creating levels in the likes of Black Ops 1 and 2, two of the most popular and successful Call of Duty games ever made.
In Rift Raider Extraction, players engage in short-form, bite-sized matches, taking on a mysterious enemy, securing rewards, and getting out again before darkness consumes them. They’ll traverse small maps in defensive bubbles, utilizing a wide array of weapons and leaning on 300,000 possible loadout combinations to make it big.
Per the game’s marketing spiel:
Rift Raider Extraction is a mobile game built for console gamers, utilizing bite sized rounds with a casual or hardcore vibe depending on your preference that blends a surprisingly comfortable mobile control scheme and a unique gameplay experience.
Douglas is now hopeful that the traction will continue and that, eventually, Rift Raider Extraction can land on other platforms, including traditional home consoles.
Do you think you’d give Rift Raider Extraction a try? Let us know what you’re thinking on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Ubisoft has unveiled more Skull and Bones content
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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