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How game studios can avoid common network and infrastructure issues

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Mathieu Duperré, CEO and Founder of Edgegap

It’s common for video game developers to launch a day-one patch for new releases after their games have gone gold. The growing size of video games means it’s inevitable that some bugs will be missed during the QA period and go unnoticed until the game is in players’ hands.

Some of the most common issues experienced by game developers at launch are related to network and infrastructure, such as the connection issues causing chaos in Overwatch 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, as some players experience issues connecting to matches. And while there’s no way of eliminating lag, latency and disconnects from multiplayer games, developers can minimize the chances of them occurring and the disruption they cause by following a few simple steps.

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Plan for the worst, expect the best

For many video game developers, the best-case scenario for the launch of their game – that it’s a huge hit and far more people end up playing it than they expected – can also be the worst-case scenario for infrastructure-related issues. An influx of too many players can lead to severe bottlenecking, resulting in lag and connectivity issues. In a worst-case scenario, servers become overloaded and stop responding to requests, usually leaving players unable to connect to online matchmaking.

Another worst-case scenario is planning for big numbers at launch and building the necessary infrastructure to support this, only for your game to launch and have nowhere near the traffic you were expecting. Not only is this a big problem for your bottom line, but things can get worse if you rush your search for an infrastructure provider and forget to read through the T&Cs properly.

Some infrastructure suppliers will onboard new studios on a fixed contract, not letting them scale back if they’ve overprovisioned their servers. Some infrastructure providers offer a lot of free credits, to begin with, only for those credits to expire after the first few months. Game studios then discover they’re responsible for fronting the cost of network traffic, load balancers, clusters, API calls, and many more products they had yet to consider.

With that in mind, try not to sign up for long-term agreements that don’t offer flexibility for scaling up or down. Your server setup has a lot to gain by being flexible, and your server requirements will likely change in the weeks following launch as you get a better idea of your player base; under-utilized servers are a waste of money and resources.

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Test, test, and test again

You haven’t tested your online matchmaking properly if you’ve tested your servers under the strain of 1000 players, but you’re expecting 10,000 or 100,000 at launch. Your load tests are an essential part of planning for the worst-case scenario, and you should test your network under the same strain as if you suddenly experienced a burst in players.

Load testing is important because you’ll inevitably encounter infrastructure issues as your network comes under strain. Still, it’s only by facing those issues that you can identify them and plan for them accordingly once your game launches.

Similarly, you want to test your game in as many different locations as possible because there’s no way of telling where your traffic will be coming from. We’ve had cases where studios released a very popular game overnight in Chile but needed data centers. Thankfully, you can mitigate issues such as these by leveraging edge computing providers to reduce the distance between your players and the point of connection.

Consider the specific infrastructure needs of your game’s genre

Casual games with an optional multiplayer component will have a completely different network requirement to MMORPGs, with thousands of players connected to a centralized world. Similarly, a first-person-shooter with 64-player matchmaking will have a different network requirement than a side-scrolling beat ’em up or fighting game, which often requires custom netcodes due to the fast-paced nature of the combat.

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People outside the video game industry assume all video games have similar payloads, but different game genres are as technically different in terms of infrastructure requirements as specific applications.

With that in mind, it’s essential for game studios, especially smaller ones, to regularly communicate with infrastructure partners and ensure they’ve got a thorough understanding of how the multiplayer components of your game will work. A decent infrastructure provider will be able to work with you to not only ensure load testing is carried out correctly but also help diagnose any broader issues.

Too many tools and not enough resources to use them

One thing that large network providers are very good at providing is tools, but these are often complex and require specific knowledge and understanding. It’s worth noting that large game studios have dedicated teams of engineers to manage these tools for AAA games with millions of players.

Smaller studios need to be realistic about the number of players they expect for new game releases and their internal resources to manage network and infrastructure-related issues and queries. You should partner with a provider that can handle all of this, so your studio can focus on making the best game possible. The more automation you can plan into your DevOps methodology, the better!

 

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Takeaways for small game studios

While game studios likely encounter many issues as part of their game development journey, working these three pieces of advice into your DevOps pipeline is a sure way of minimizing infrastructure-related headaches.

Don’t reinvent the wheel – We’ve seen many studios trying to build bespoke systems rather than automate and use what’s already out there. If you can develop your netcode, engine and manage your Kubernetes, that’s great! But is it necessary, or is building these things from scratch just going to create trouble further down the line?

Understand your workflows – Plan for everything, use tech-agnostic vendors to remain flexible, get real-time visibility and logs for your matchmaking traffic, and have a 24/7 support plan for when your game is live. The more potential problems you’re aware of, the better.

Load testing your game – Build tiny tools and scripts to generate as much traffic as you can, breaking your system as often as possible.

 

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Getting ready for Xmas: SplitMetrics partnership with Wargaming helps World of Warships app sail to new heights with 15% uplift in organic conversions

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Wargaming, a leading game developer, teamed up with SplitMetrics, an app growth solutions company, to boost conversion rates with seasonal Christmas-themed screenshots for the launch of its game World of Warships: Legends.
Coinciding with the game’s soft launch in Brazil, the Philippines, Canada, and France ahead of the Christmas holidays, Wargaming wanted to capitalise on the seasonality effect to influence its app engagement without advertising.
By working with SplitMetrics Agency, a leading mobile growth agency, Wargaming increased conversions by an average of 15% on iOS across App Store storefronts in Canada, the Philippines and France. Canada experienced the highest conversion rate increase with 31.45%, followed by the Philippines (9.61%) and France (3.44%). On Android, the Brazilian Google Play storefront experienced the highest conversion rate increase with 6.68%.
SplitMetrics Agency focused on A/B testing as its core strategy. The agency optimised visual assets, analysed performance and tested various creative hypotheses. Using SplitMetrics Optimize, the agency’s experts ran experiments to identify the best-performing illustrations for both the App Store and Google Play product pages.
A key hypothesis tested during this project was whether tailoring visuals to each region during Christmas would have an impact. For France and Canada, the images were adjusted to include a winter theme featuring snow, fireworks and a Christmas tree. For the Philippines, the agency used white ribbons, a local Christmas tradition, along with fireworks and ornaments displaying the country’s flag. And for Brazil, fireworks and ornaments decorated with the Brazilian flag.
During this testing period, there were no in-app events or paid user acquisition campaigns, allowing the performance changes to be directly attributed to the updated screenshots.
Thomas Kriebernegg, General Manager, SplitMetrics Agency, said: “Christmas is one of the main calendar events that app marketers need to prepare for, especially in the gaming category.
“The World of Warships: Legends case study is a great example of how seasonality can significantly impact your app’s performance and give you a boost in users. And this can be achieved without an advertising budget. It can all be done organically when you have the right calendar event, great graphics and A/B testing.
“As in the case of the Wargaming game, a comprehensive analysis and testing strategy increased its conversion rate by an average 15% across three markets.
“It is essential that app marketers forward-plan for any relevant calendar events. It’s also important to note that Christmas may not be relevant for every app but if you’re unsure you can always try A/B testing to see what works. And keep optimising.”

The post Getting ready for Xmas: SplitMetrics partnership with Wargaming helps World of Warships app sail to new heights with 15% uplift in organic conversions appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Nolimit City revisits the brutal factory life in Outsourced: Slash Game

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Nolimit City takes you back to the grind with its latest release, Outsourced: Slash Game. For those who thought their consumerist cravings were a safe indulgence, think again. Following in the footsteps of Outsourced, this new addition pulls back the curtain on the sweat and sacrifice lurking behind those everyday luxuries—this time with a dash of danger. Outsourced: Slash Game is the studio’s second venture into crash-style gameplay, the first being xCrash™ in Skate or Die – but this time it’s a standalone crash game!

In Slash Game, players have to make some cutthroat decisions as a laser traces the outline of their hand, increasing the multiplier with every pass. Players hit “stop” to cash out, locking in the multiplier when they feel the timing is right. After which, they will be shown the potential winnings if they wouldn’t have stopped. But here’s the catch: if players hesitate a second too long and the laser slips, all the winnings are lost. A live scoreboard displays the Top Win, Top Miss and Last Round, so that players can keep track of their previous rounds.

Outsourced: Slash Game is not a familiar Nolimit City slot to some players but could cause some excitement with an increasing multiplier and a maximum payout of 1,500x the base bet. Outsourced: Slash Game, unlike Nolimit City’s high-volatility slots, is rated as ‘Medium Volatility’ but don’t let that fool you as it still includes the risk of losing your hand.

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Per Lindheimer, Head of Product at Nolimit City, said: “Get back to work, will you? We’re bringing players back to the unrelenting factory floor of Outsourced with an all-new twist. Slash Game is a standalone take on our crash-style games, and it’s packed with plenty of heart-stopping moments (and maybe a few hand-stopping ones, too). We’re thrilled with how it turned out and we hope that our fans will be too!“

‘Outsourced: Slash Game’ will be available to all Nolimit City partners on November 5th, 2024.

The post Nolimit City revisits the brutal factory life in Outsourced: Slash Game appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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CS2 Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 SuperComputer: NaVi to bounce back after Blast Fall Final loss

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Final: Natus Vincere (36.5%) to beat Team Vitality (28.1%)

Semifinal 1: Natus Vincere (52.6%) to beat MOUZ (16.3%)

Semifinal 2: Team Vitality (47.7%) to beat G2 Esports (18.7%)

Quarterfinal 1: G2 Esports (39.8%) to beat FaZe Clan (32.8%)

Quarterfinal 2: MOUZ (35.9%) to beat Eternal Fire (24.7%)

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Group stage

  1. Natus Vincere – 48.7% to finish 1st; 17.0% to finish 2nd; 84.1% to make playoffs

  2. Team Vitality – 40.8% to finish 1st; 17.4% to finish 2nd; 77.7% to make playoffs

  3. G2 Esports – 19.3% to finish 1st; 20.4% to finish 2nd; 56.7% to make playoffs

  4. MOUZ – 14.5% to finish 1st; 21.8% to finish 2nd; 53.0% to make playoffs

  5. FaZe Clan – 13.9% to finish 1st; 21.0% to finish 2nd; 50.2% to make playoffs

  6. Eternal Flame – 40.7% to finish 1st; 16.2% to finish 2nd; 40.7% to make playoffs

  7. Liquid – 16.3% to finish 7-8th; 35.7% to make playoffs

  8. Virtus.pro – 15.4% to finish 7-8th; 29.9% to make playoffs

  9. Astralis – 28.9% to finish 9-12th; 31.5% to make playoffs

  10. The MongolZ – 32.7% to finish 9-12th; 25.4% to make playoffs

  11. Complexity – 34.3% to finish 9-12th; 21.2% to make playoffs

  12. Heroic – 26.8% to finish 9-12th; 23.5% to make playoffs

  13. paiN – 36.5% to finish 13-16th; 21.0% to make playoffs

  14. FURIA – 36.4% to finish 13-16th; 20.9% to make playoffs

  15. 9z – 44.7% to finish 13-16th; 14.6% to make playoffs

  16. Imperial – 49.1% to finish 13-16th; 13.9% to make playoffs

It has been quite the run for NaVi despite their loss with back to back grand finals in recent weeks but CSDB.gg’s predictive model suggests there will be no let up for the Ukrainian esports organisation.

G2 will also be looking to build more momentum in preparation for Majors season with NiKo on a quest to finally get over the line this year to win his first major title. Hopefully Rio won’t have to see a repeat of his reaction in the semifinals at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 where he punched a hole in a table after losing out to Team Vitality in a key moment.

However, the hosts of Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 may want to lockdown any nearby furniture and reinforce their desks if G2 are set for disappointment at the semifinals stage as predicted by the CSDB.gg SuperComputer.

A victory in Rio could be even more consequential for how the end of the year shapes up for the leading teams on the circuit. The Valve Global rankings have both teams close at the very top (NaVi at 1988 and G2 at 1953) meaning a win for either team could hand them a key advantage when it comes to who enters the Majors as top seed. 

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Back-to-back wins in T1 events for G2, should they prosper in Rio, would set the Berlin-based team on an incredible trajectory going into the winter months.

Meanwhile, Brazilian hopes for glory look slight according to the CSDB.gg SuperComputer with FURIA, the team co-owned by Neymar, having only been given a 20.9% chance of even making the playoffs. 

They are the leading contenders to make an impact for the home crowd but there are other teams flying the flag for Brazil with paiN and Imperial also set to give it their best to give local fans something to cheer on.

In terms of forecasted matchups of note, G2 and FaZe Clan could offer up a fascinating encounter in the quarterfinals should both teams qualify, with each organisation rated as having a strong chance of making the semis with little to separate them should they meet.

How was the CSDB.gg CS2 Tournament SuperComputer created?

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The CSDB.gg CS2 Tournament SuperComputer is a predictive model created using world ranking points, team quality ratings and performance trends. An element of randomness is also included in the model to avoid the best teams and players always winning, to reflect the fact that upsets can happen.

Every tournament is simulated 1,000 times with the results aggregated into a percentage rating of the chances teams or players have to achieve the predicted result.

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