Develop Global Multiplayer Games using Cloud Spanner

Most modern video games require years of investment to produce, both in terms of development time and capital.

The length of development is influenced by a number of factors, such as scale, development platform, scope, and type of game. Gamers often expect global multiplayer experiences on Day 1, which means that the success of a game can depend on how well it can scale to a community of millions of players in the first few weeks of its life. High availability and stability must be built into the design of a game to handle this demand for scale. Issues that take place during the opening days of the game’s life can be fatal, as players are slow to return after a bad experience, and the hype of anticipation quickly fades. In other words, momentum is everything.

How does Cloud Spanner address architectural complexity?

All types of online games require storing immense amounts of data, such as player achievements and stats, leaderboards, game data, and much more, and must do so at scale. The amount of data can grow both linearly or exponentially as more players join the game; thus the most important requirement for a game’s database is the ability to scale while providing high availability.