Multiplay: Immersing gaming fans in superior experiences
About Multiplay
Multiplay is a gaming services company that specializes in enterprise game server hosting, gaming event services, and e-sports.
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Contact usTo support the global launch of Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall 2, Multiplay implemented Google Cloud Platform for optimal cost and performance.
Google Cloud Platform results
- A hybrid cloud using Google Cloud Platform gives Multiplay an optimal mix of cost and performance
- Scales automatically to meet spikes in demand
- Low-latency networking improves the quality of game play
- Multiplay successfully supports the launch of Titanfall 2 to millions of global users
Compute Engine provides fastest virtual machine provisioning
Multiplay specializes in game-server hosting, e-sports, and gaming event management. The company provides multiplayer support to some of the video gaming industry’s biggest franchises, such as Titanfall, which have millions of annual users and log tens of millions of monthly hours watched. In 2016, Multiplay updated its auto-scaling hosting platform to a hybrid cloud using its own bare metal servers and burst capacity in the Cloud.
Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment engaged Multiplay to support the global launch of Titanfall 2, the sequel to the original first-person shooter blockbuster. Because of the game’s sophistication and the anticipated worldwide fan base, Respawn required a global platform that could reliably scale and deliver superior gaming experiences.
Testing revealed that Google Cloud Platform was easy to use and delivered high performance, so Multiplay chose it as the primary hosting and delivery cloud partner for Titanfall 2. Specifically, Compute Engine provisioned Windows-ready virtual machines (VMs) faster to meet user demands and delivered better performance for both gameplay and downloading the initial game image.
“Game performance is incredibly affected by latency, and Google Cloud Platform made sure we had low latency and high performance. Its network ensures consistently superior performance for end users.”
—Paul Manuel, Director of Digital Solutions, Multiplay“Multiplay’s experience with Google Cloud Platform was excellent from the word ‘Go.’ Our engineering team praised the standard of documentation and ease of use,” says Paul Manuel, Director of Digital Solutions at Multiplay. “Despite not having prior experience with Google Cloud Platform, we were up and running quickly with very little assistance. We were also impressed with the performance, seeing faster spin-up times of Windows VM when benchmarked against competing clouds. Our focus is superior gaming experience so speed is everything.”
Gamers enjoy low latency and high performance
Multiplay layered Compute Engine on top of its own server infrastructure to create the hybrid solution that runs Titanfall 2. Compute Engine scales quickly to meet daily demand patterns that can cause sizable spikes in compute capacity demand. Traffic patterns for large game launches such as Titanfall 2 are even harder to predict. Continually delivering updates and downloadable content (DLC) draws heavily on compute resources. According to Paul, with Compute Engine they saw no performance decreases.
Network performance is also important to the success of Titanfall 2. “Game performance is incredibly affected by latency, and Google Cloud Platform made sure we had low latency and high performance,” says Paul. “Its network ensures consistently superior performance for end users.”
“Utilizing Google’s network, we are able to have virtual machines located close geographically to users around the world. Google puts a lot of time into working with ISPs to make sure that YouTube and Google Cloud Platform offer high performance. We’ve reaped the benefits of that,” says Paul. “Google has superb solutions engineers and architects. As a company they are very easy to do business with and incredibly supportive of Multiplay. I genuinely felt that the team at Google was as committed to the Titanfall 2 launch as we were.”
“We’re laser focused on becoming the industry’s most recognized game hosting specialist, and Google Cloud Platform will certainly help us on this journey.”
—Paul Manuel, Director of Digital Solutions, MultiplayBetter gaming, less staff time
Besides delivering optimal gameplay experiences using Google Cloud Platform for spikes in demand, Multiplay can easily divert traffic from its proprietary client/server network in case of technical or performance issues. Multiplay can switch to Google Cloud Platform in minutes.
The hybrid cloud structure also helps Multiplay effectively manage data center costs. By coupling its investments in bare metal infrastructure with Google Cloud Platform per-minute billing, sustained usage discounts, and IT engineering and support, Multiplay optimizes its costs without compromising the end user experience.
“We’re very culturally aligned with the way Google works—just like them, we’re an engineering-first company. They made it much easier to make sure the launch of Titanfall 2 was a success,” adds Paul. “At Multiplay, we’re laser focused on becoming the industry’s most recognized game hosting specialist, and Google Cloud Platform will certainly help us on this journey.”
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About Multiplay
Multiplay is a gaming services company that specializes in enterprise game server hosting, gaming event services, and e-sports.