Building an online game no longer requires huge server rooms, big studios, or enormous budgets, thank goodness, because let’s be real, who needs that kind of financial burden when you’re just trying to make a game that people will actually play. Today, indie game studios can use standard cloud services and network platforms without making significant financial investments, which is a blessing in disguise, considering the cost of maintaining a team of developers, designers, and testers. The major thing is to evaluate all the investments and determine which ones can be minimized without impacting the overall performance of the infrastructure, because who doesn’t love a good challenge in optimization.
Online infrastructure includes everything from game servers and storage to virtualization layers, networking, bandwidth, and other crucial components. Besides reviewing the basic criteria when choosing infrastructure, it is also critical to choose scalable variants before you actually order reliable VPS hosting, because the last thing you want is to be stuck with a hosting plan that can’t handle your game’s sudden surge in popularity.
Start with cloud infrastructure
The availability of cloud infrastructure variants has become a huge advantage for most independent game developers. There is no need to order and constantly manage physical servers, which is a relief, considering the hassle of dealing with hardware failures, upgrades, and maintenance. With cloud solutions, anyone can immediately rent the optimal number of resources and conveniently scale them when there is a necessity, which is perfect for games with variable player bases.
When you are just launching your multiplayer game, the optimal decision is to choose a server with minimal needed capacity and resources and gradually expand your requirements. By following such a strategy, studios won’t invest huge finances into their project that has minimal traffic activity at the initial stage, which is a smart move, considering the uncertainty of a game’s success.
Maximize usage of the managed services
Controlling every aspect of online infrastructure can consume so much time and effort, especially if you have a tiny team working on the project. There is a diversity of additional managed services which, for a minimal sum of money, can deal with notifications, authentication, databases, analytics, and DevOps services, which is a godsend for indie developers who can’t afford to hire a team of experts in each field.
For a small team, the most optimal decision is to pay for most services rather than spending so much time on building and further maintaining the same systems, which is a no-brainer, considering the opportunity cost of developing your own solutions. The only recommendation here is to search for options with a predictable pricing policy, with no additional features or extra payments, because who doesn’t hate surprise bills.
Security of users’ information and other protection factors
Cybersecurity is extremely important for any online project, whether it is gaming, digital media, or indie development. Even projects with small traffic activity can experience fraud, theft, DDoS attacks, and any other form of attack against the project, which is a sobering thought, considering the potential consequences of a security breach.
That’s why the most important decision is to encrypt sensitive information, use authentication tools, and conduct regular backups and software updates, which is a basic hygiene practice, but you’d be surprised how many developers neglect it. The availability of basic monitoring tools can also help with the identification of unusual traffic activity or some server issues that can lead to serious consequences in the long run, which is a good reminder to always stay vigilant.
Conclusion
The choice of the game studio’s infrastructure is an essential part of the project launch, and there are plenty of factors that should be considered during this process, which can be overwhelming, to say the least. But in the end, it all boils down to making smart tech choices, evaluating payments, and minimizing unnecessary spending, which is easier said than done, but hey, that’s what makes it a challenge, right? So, to all the indie game developers out there, remember, building a game is hard enough, but building a game with a solid infrastructure is a whole different story, so choose your battles wisely, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte, widely regarded as the “Shakespeare of Sh*tposts,” is a video game expert with a unique knack for turning pixels into punchlines.
Born in the small town of Respawn, Pennsylvania, Pixel grew up mashing buttons on an ancient NES controller, firmly believing that “blowing into the cartridge” was a sacred ritual passed down through generations.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte: proving that life, much like a buggy open-world game, is better with a little lag-induced chaos.
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