Game Backend Development (PDF)

Robust backend infrastructure support is essential for all modern games. Implementing game backend features became easier with the emergence of GBaaS (Game Backend-as-a-Service) providers and the advance of the cloud. Multiplayer gaming, leaderboards, game analytics, and virtual economies are all backed by cloud services.

This book will help you get started. It teaches all the core concepts, using downloadable source code, so that you can experiment right away following a learning-by-doing approach.

After reading this book, you will have a solid grasp of key gamebackend services and know how to implement them.

You will:

• Understand core concepts around game backend development
• Use the PlayFab API to implement backend features
• Build game backend infrastructure using Microsoft Azure cloud (architecture and implementation)
• Contrast the traditional Azure cloud- and PlayFab (GBaaS)-based implementations of game backend capabilities
• Reuse source code to enable backend capability in your own games
• Discover different ways for authenticating players
• Implement a multiplayer game in Unity with the help of mirror networking
• Create a matchmaker to bring together players for an online game session
• Establish leaderboards to reinforce player competition
• Build a virtual economy and monetize your game
• Set up game analytics and gain insight into players' behavior
• Let players communicate with each other by taking advantage of cognitive services
• Learn how to implement server-side custom game backend logic