the backstory of "syndicate" is contained in the manual, instead of the game itself. as multinational corporations gained power and influence they came to exercise direct influence over the world's governments, eventually replacing them, controlling the lives of people through commerce. one such "megacorp", named eurocorp, invented the "chip", a device inserted into the neck which alters a person's perception of the outside world, numbing their senses to the misery and squalor around them. it also opened the user to suggestion and manipulation by the megacorps. before long the megacorps became corrupt crime syndicates, fighting amongst each other for monopoly over chip manufacturing and control over populations.