The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything

by Matthew Ball

As the major game engines developed, another type of independent gaming solution emerged: live services suites. Companies such as PlayFab (now owned by Microsoft’s Azure) and GameSparks (Amazon) operate much of what a virtual world needs to “run” online and multiplayer experiences. This includes user account systems, player data storage, processing in-game transactions, version management, player-to-player communications, matchmaking, leaderboards, game analytics, anti-cheat systems, and more, all of which work across platforms. Both Unity and Epic now have their own live services offerings, too, which are available at low-to-no cost and are not limited to their engines. Steam, the world’s largest PC game store and a key point of discussion in Chapter 10, offers its own live services product, Steamworks.