I am evaluating possible solutions for server backend for my company’s new project - Unity3d based cross platform (iOS, Android, PC and possibly others) freemium game with social elements. First, let me sum up what I already know (the final question is at the end).
I am looking for features like
User management
Leaderboards (many of them)
Challenges (user created and developer created)
Microtransactions support (virtual currency)
Possibility to support many platforms (we are using Unity3D engine, so Unity3D support is a great advantage for us)
Support for players on different continents - If I were to choose Backend as a Service solution hosted by tech provider - I need to be sure it will offer proper support for players from different locations - this usually means having data centers at least in US and Europe.
Additional pros would be:
User behavior analytics
Ad exchange platform
Application discovery
Storage for user created content
Matchmaking
Ability to mirror some data with iOS GameCenter
Our ideal solution would be a Unity3D SDK for client side and server backend application (in j2ee or .net) with a possibility of self hosting (we are planning to use Amazon or Azure cloud for hosting). As far as I know there are no existing solutions that would match this specification.
So I am considering three possible solutions:
Use existing technology (like OpenFeint/Gree)
Build solution integrating existing blocks (like Unity microtransaction api) and developing my own technology when necessary
Develop our own solution from a scratch
Existing solutions I found so far are:
OpenFeint (Gree)
Scoreloop
Scoreoid
Plus+
Crystal
Parse (lower level solution)
Kinvey (lower level solution)
Unfortunately they all have some serious disadvantages:
no possibility of self hosting
in case of solutions like OF, users become OF users playing one of its many games, not our app users (we are entirely dependent on them)
So to sum up:
What are your experiences with building server backends? Which way or technology would you recommend? Is there a technology or approach I am missing?
Hi all, forgive me for self promotion but GameSparks is a new end-to-end server-side platform you may not have heard about. It does everything you have mentioned in the posts above. You can access it here:
I’ve searched for months, and most work great as long as you don’t try to run a web player version, then they all break down because of cross domain policy issues, most notably Kinvey and Parse fail here. The response from the Parse sales guy was “doh, sorry” when I asked them about it LOL.
However I just tried PlayerIO.com and it all works perfectly! Web player version included. Very clean Unity3d code to work with. So happy! They have thought of everything a indie developer might need. I know I’m gushing here, but months of work have been saved.
Try out new and super innovative solution by Canadian company – BlazeSoft. http://www.blazesoft.ca
It’s A-Z gaming backend with all possible features you wish to manage for your game –
Player management, Levels management, Integration with Stores, Batch or RealTime communication.
Also they have vast experience in most popular genres – Slots , Cards, Sports, 3Match, Puzzle, Shooter games.
Including very internal mechanism such as %RTP Calculation for Slots games, integration to sports data providers and more.