Industry News
How to avoid network and server infrastructure issues during the development cycle
Mathieu Duperré, CEO, Edgegap
Regardless of whether you’re an indie developer or a AAA publisher, making games is never simple. Taking a game project from the initial concept to launch is a huge undertaking, especially when you begin incorporating multiplayer and social elements. Despite eye-watering budgets and huge teams of developers, countless games fall flat on release.
Thankfully, many of the common obstacles can be easily avoided and disruption to your release timeline kept to a minimum if you’re aware of the potential network and server infrastructure issues at key stages of development: the main development cycle, pre-launch, the launch period itself and once the game has launched.
Problems during the main development cycle
Some of the most common problems you’ll encounter on the tech side of the main development cycle can be the result of:
- Imperfect or hurried CI/CD pipelines. It can take days to push a new release for testing when you should be able to launch a few releases every day.
- Dev teams taking on too much in-house rather than seeking outside assistance (netcode, game engine, backend services).
- Trying to save funds through open-source projects that eventually become outdated, unsupported during your dev cycle or ends up in engineering money pits.
- Developers waiting until post-launch to focus on important elements such as crossplay.
- QA teams lacking constant access to the game build.
Any of these sound familiar? If so, it might be time to rethink your core strategy and whether you’re adhering to the DevOps methodology. Do you have a structured approach or are you lurching leftfield and drifting off course?
While developing your own netcode and game engine in-house can seem appealing, it’s important to consider the potential risks that might emerge further down the road. If problems with your netcode or a proprietary game engine present themselves at a particularly busy stage of development, you’ll wish you’d have outsourced them.
Considering where you can offload certain aspects of development to external partners can help reduce your team’s workload and improve their efficiency so they can focus on more pressing matters.
Mistakes to avoid just before the launch
One of the biggest mistakes you can make just before launch? Underestimating your CCU (concurrent users worldwide) and employing a low percentage buffer of around 10%. Misjudging your CCU is going to put too much strain on your servers and overall backend services and is one of the most common reasons players experience crashes around the launch. Similarly, don’t underestimate the number of regions you’ll need servers in too. A global game launch requires an equal distribution of worldwide servers to avoid latency issues.
When it comes to servers, it’s always best to plan ahead and scale back, rather than the other way around. Prioritise network partners who offer pay-as-you-go options for server access, so if you do need to scale back (or up) you can do so easily. This should always be the preferred option and will prevent you from being charged for servers you’re not using. It’s important to be aware of the risks associated with overestimating, as this can lead to studios signing long-term contracts and ultimately being overresourced.
Finally, one issue that can cause developers and studios a lot of trouble is data protection regulation laws. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about studios turning a blind eye to privacy laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Make sure you’ve checked the specific rules regarding data collection in your region as early as possible to avoid a frantic rush of paperwork towards the end of development or, worse, incurring costly fines.
Obstacles on launch day
It can be easy to think that you’ve made it through the worst once you reach launch day, but this is usually the stage where major issues can suddenly appear. You may notice a bombardment of negative responses from Twitter, Steam and other platforms addressing critical issues with the game – make sure you address these rather than ignoring them. These responses can be important indicators of how the players are responding to your game and if you’ve factored their feedback in the development phase.
Once the game has launched, you will have the clearest indicator of how many servers you’ll need to support the players. This is where your planning will prove to be correct or wide of the mark if you’d reserved say 1000, but you only need 200.
A 24/7 support plan is an important consideration when the game is live, this will enable rapid fixes to negate as many disruptions as possible. A low-cost DDoS solution is also a crucial facet to bear in mind. A server orchestrator will help developers manage influx of traffic along with capturing crucial data that can be incorporated into the game as part of the observability phase.
Post-launch issues
Now that your game is in the world, there can be a strong temptation to introduce a plethora of new elements to the game to enhance the player experience. While on the face of it these are good ideas, new mods or minor updates can prove problematic and contain major bugs. Responding to these new issues can be distracting and take weeks or even months to solve.
On top of this, if you haven’t properly planned earlier in the process, major updates to your game servers could potentially lead to maintenance issues and significant downtime for your player base. If players have a bad experience on launch, they’ll likely just move on to the next best thing. When EA launched Battlefield 2042, server issues, loading times and game-breaking bugs plagued the game. Within months, player numbers dropped to fewer than 1,000 concurrent players on Steam.
Of course, there are a number of ways to circumvent these issues. It is crucial to choose a backend that can support multi-versioning A/B testing and facilitate rolling updates without outages. You’d be hard-pressed to find a gamer who enjoys an unplayable game. Automation can also help in the production pipeline, this includes deploying quick fix updates and upgrades which will reduce the human error factor.
Another consideration that is often overlooked is outsourcing for network and platform providers to remove a large in-house team dedicated to DevOps or Engineering. This is intensive work that will take up the time of staff, and outsourcing is a viable option and it makes perfect sense for smaller studios, especially to pursue this option purely from a cost-saving perspective.
Making edge count
Edge computing is often overlooked by game developers, but it can alleviate many of the issues described here, particularly around server provisioning and latency issues. Edge technology brings computation and data storage closer to the source of the data, placing it at the edge of the network where performance gain is most optimal. This reduces unnecessary travel and drastically speeds up the process resulting in close to a lag-free experience.
If you’re looking at cross-play for your game, infrastructure requirements become more complex. Edge computing helps to negate some of the most nagging delay issues that come with playing across different platforms. As cross-play becomes more of a consideration for developers, edge computing along with automation can come to be one of the solutions to some of the associated problems. Developers should consider the automation part of the equation when planning their game project. It becomes even more vital when you add more latency-reliant elements to a game.
Fail to plan, plan to fail
There is no one size fits all approach to game development or the challenges associated with it. But taking some of the steps outlined above can help negate potential issues and lessen their impact, preventing total derailment of a game before it even launches.
Small steps like putting your trust in external partners or looking at technologies like Edge computing to squeeze as much performance out of your game as possible might seem small, but their impact on development can’t be underestimated.
Planning for different eventualities at key stages of development will go a long way in ensuring your game is the best it can possibly be at launch. This will give your game the best chance at becoming a lasting hit, not a flash in the pan that’s marred by server issues or bugs.
The logistical side of creating a game might not always be glamorous or exciting, but it’s unavoidable. If your development pipeline is hit by server issues, you’ll be glad you planned ahead.
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Industry News
CT Gaming Celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a Three-Day Team-Building Event
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, CT Gaming hosted an unforgettable three-day team-building event for its employees at the picturesque “Katarino” complex. The programme as dynamic, filled with diverse activities that fostered team bonding—from fun quizzes and sports tournaments to refreshing mountain hikes and moments of complete relaxation. The highlight of the event was the glamorous gala dinner, themed “Classic Stars,” where employees and departments with outstanding contributions to the company’s success were rightfully honoured by company Founder Milo Borissov and Vice President Rossi McKee. Following the formal part of the evening, the beloved actor and comedian Krasi Radkov brought smiles and laughter to the audience.
“Twenty-five years in the business is a significant achievement, one we couldn’t have reached without the dedication and ambition of the team behind CT Gaming. That’s why we decided to celebrate this milestone all of us – together,” Mr. Borissov, founder of CT Gaming, said.
“As we mark this anniversary, we celebrate not only the success of our products but also the dedication of our incredible team, as well as the trust of our partners and clients. Looking ahead, CT Gaming remains focused on business expansion and actively shaping the future of the gaming industry,” Rossi McKee, Vice President of CT Gaming, said.
The post CT Gaming Celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a Three-Day Team-Building Event appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Industry News
BC.GAME Launches $BC Mining Rush
BC.GAME, a leading crypto gaming platform, has launched $BC Mining Rush, an exclusive event with a staggering prize pool of 1 billion $BC tokens. The event will run from October 1 to October 20, 2024, offering players the chance to win daily rewards simply by placing bets of $1 or more.
This event is designed to offer participants an easy entry into the crypto space, providing opportunities for daily wins while keeping participation straightforward and accessible.
Key Highlights of the $BC Mining Rush
Massive Daily Prize Pool: Win Big with Just $1
The $BC Mining Rush features an impressive 50 million $BC daily prize pool. With just a $1 wager, participants can enter the daily prize draw, and larger wagers can boost their share of the winnings. This setup allows players of all experience levels to compete for a portion of the 1 billion $BC total prize pool, maximising their potential returns.
Easy and Accessible Participation
The $BC Mining Rush has simplified the participation process to ensure that both new and seasoned players can easily take part. There are no complicated requirements or technical barriers—users simply place their wagers daily and watch their potential winnings grow. Daily winners will receive their rewards the following day, ensuring a smooth and transparent payout process.
Daily Rewards Structure: A Chance to Win Every Day
Each day of the event offers a fresh opportunity to claim a portion of the 50 million $BC prize pool. The more a player wagers, the greater their share of the daily prize pool. Players’ rewards are based on their percentage of total wagers for that day, making the event as fair as it is rewarding.
“We are thrilled to bring the $BC Mining Rush to our community. This event is our way of rewarding loyal players while introducing new users to the thrill of crypto gaming with the chance to win big,” said Jack Dorset, CEO of BC.GAME.
The post BC.GAME Launches $BC Mining Rush appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Industry News
Rickard Vikström, CEO & Founder of Internet Vikings, Honored in Emerging Leaders of Gaming 40 Under 40 List
The Innovation Group, together with Global Gaming Business (GGB) magazine, has announced Rickard Vikström, CEO and Founder of Internet Vikings, as one of the honorees of the Emerging Leaders of Gaming 40 Under 40 Class of 2025. This list recognizes professionals under the age of 40 who have made significant contributions and are set to become leaders in the casino gaming industry.
Rickard Vikström has been recognized for his leadership in the field of in-state hosting solutions for the iGaming and online sports betting industry. As the CEO of Internet Vikings, Rickard has established the company which is now the fastest-growing hosting provider in the US, serving 24 states.
“I am honored to be included in this list of talented individuals making a bold impact in the casino gaming industry. I share this recognition with the entire Internet Vikings team and our leading hosting solutions that support the growth and success of our clients in the iGaming and online sports betting sectors,” said Rickard Vikström.
The Emerging Leaders of Gaming 40 Under 40 Class of 2025 was carefully selected by a distinguished committee including representatives from PENN Entertainment. Their decision reflects Rickard Vikström’s impact on the industry and his achievements in strategic leadership. Other 40 under 40 leaders include FanDuel’s Karolina Pelc and Everi’s Darryl DeRaedt.
The honorees will be celebrated at the Emerging Leaders of Gaming 40 Under 40 Networking Reception in partnership with Global Gaming Expo (G2E) on Wednesday, the 9th of October, 2024.
The post Rickard Vikström, CEO & Founder of Internet Vikings, Honored in Emerging Leaders of Gaming 40 Under 40 List appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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