Accounts and identity
Platform sign-in, guest-to-account upgrades, account linking, profiles, permissions and privacy-aware player data, including deletion and export requests.
GAME BACKEND DEVELOPMENT
Game Backend Development Services
Custom game backends for player accounts, progression, inventory and live operations, integrated with your game and operated the way your team needs.
Built for burst traffic, versioned clients, retries, valuable player state and partial failure.
WHAT WE BUILD
Player services your game can rely on
We develop custom game backends for studios building an online game or improving an existing service. Scope can cover player accounts, progression, inventory and live operations, with integration and operational ownership defined around your game. Each capability below is scoped only when your game needs it.
Saves and progression
Cloud saves, experience, unlocks and rewards, with explicit rules for conflicts between devices, sessions and client versions.
Inventory and economy
Items, currencies, entitlements and purchase grants validated on the server, applied through idempotent transactions and recorded in an auditable history.
Leaderboards and social features
Leaderboards, friends, groups or clans where the game design calls for them, with abuse and moderation needs considered up front.
Live configuration and content
Remote settings, events, offers, feature flags and content metadata delivered per client version, with controlled rollout and rollback.
Telemetry and administration
Structured game events, dashboards, support actions and traceable admin tools so live teams can answer player questions without database access.
EXISTING BACKENDS
Extending, migrating or replacing what you already run
Many projects start with a backend that already holds real players. We plan changes around that state instead of assuming a clean start.
Incremental extension
New features are added behind versioned endpoints next to the existing service, so released clients keep working while new builds adopt the new contract.
Migration from a managed platform or legacy service
We map the data model, identities and purchase history, then move features or player cohorts in stages with a verified rollback path at each step.
Version compatibility
Old and new client builds overlap in production. Contracts, deprecation windows and server-side defaults are defined so that a store-review delay does not break the game.
Scope boundaries
This service covers persistent player services. Authoritative realtime match simulation belongs to multiplayer development, and running server fleets belongs to dedicated server hosting; we connect them through explicit contracts.
Multiplayer developmentARCHITECTURE EXAMPLE
Where a custom game backend sits
A simplified example of a typical online game. The exact components depend on the game, the expected load and the team that will operate it.
- 01
Game client
Calls a versioned API and never decides valuable outcomes on its own.
- 02
Authentication
Exchanges platform or account credentials for a short-lived session token.
- 03
Client API
Validates requests, applies rate limits and keeps contracts compatible across builds.
- 04
Domain services
Accounts, progression, inventory, economy and configuration with server-side rules.
- 05
Persistence
Transactional storage, caches and an event history for audits and analytics.
- 06
Operations
Telemetry, admin tools, deployment, alerts and recovery procedures.
Conceptual example. Authoritative realtime game servers run beside this stack, not inside it: they simulate the match, then report results to the player services through a trusted server-to-server API.
INTEGRATION & RELIABILITY
Designed for retries, outages and released clients
Client contracts
Typed request and error schemas, documented in a form your client developers can use, with compatibility rules for every released build.
Authoritative validation
The server decides grants, spends and progression. Client input is treated as a request, not as a result.
Retries and idempotency
Request keys ensure that a retried reward or purchase is applied once, even after timeouts or reconnects.
Failure handling
Timeouts, degraded modes, queued work and clear client behavior when a dependency is unavailable.
Data ownership
You own the player data and accounts. Storage location, retention, export and deletion are agreed and documented.
HOW WE WORK
How a backend engagement runs
We map player actions and state ownership before selecting services or data stores, then deliver one integrated slice before scaling the feature list.
- 01
Discovery and state mapping
Identify valuable data, consistency needs, trust boundaries, platforms, expected load and who will operate the system.
- 02
Versioned contracts
Specify requests, events, errors, idempotency and compatibility so client and backend work can proceed in parallel.
- 03
First integrated slice
One feature, for example sign-in with cloud save, running end to end from the game client to a production-like environment.
- 04
Feature development and validation
Further features with telemetry and admin needs included, tested against duplicate requests, dependency failure, migrations and burst traffic.
- 05
Handover or operation
Documentation, runbooks and dashboards for your team, or continued operation under an agreed managed-hosting scope.
DELIVERABLES
What you receive
The result is an operable service boundary with source, deployment and data ownership made clear.
- Domain and data model
- Versioned APIs, events and client integration
- Account, progression, inventory or economy services as scoped
- Administrative and live-operation tools
- Deployment, observability and recovery documentation
TEAM EVIDENCE
Projects behind this service
Projects include original Backend Alchemist productions and work delivered by current team members in previous studio, leadership and contract roles. Each project page states the team's contribution.
Avander VR / Mentis
Avander VR / Mentis
Team experience delivering a cloud backend with content management and media processing behind a VR client and browser editor, used in industrial training programs.
View projectRunofstone
Runofstone
Team experience building realtime PvP systems with progression, collections and clans in a connected strategy game.
View project
Bad Goons
Bad Goons
Our original production in active development: authoritative dedicated servers and containerized deployment, the realtime counterpart to persistent player services.
View projectCOST & TIMELINE
What determines the scope of a game backend
We do not publish fixed starting prices, because two backends with the same feature names can differ by an order of magnitude in effort. These factors drive the estimate.
A short discovery conversation is usually enough to produce a written scope with stated assumptions and an estimate range.
- Which player features are needed at launch and which can follow
- Platforms and identity providers to support
- Economy, purchases and how much value the server must protect
- Existing data, accounts or services to migrate or integrate
- Expected load profile, regions and data-residency needs
- Whether your team or ours will operate the system after launch
FAQ
Questions specific to this path.
Can you replace our existing backend?
Yes, usually incrementally. We identify stable seams, introduce versioned contracts and migrate state or traffic in controlled stages where the current system permits it. A full rewrite is proposed only when incremental change would cost more.
Which engines and platforms can integrate with the backend?
Unity is our main client engine, but the backend exposes engine-independent contracts, so other clients can integrate through the same API. Platform sign-in and store integrations are scoped per platform.
Who owns the source code and player data?
Ownership and licensing are agreed in the contract. Handover normally includes the source, infrastructure configuration, documentation and full access to the player data.
Should we use a backend-as-a-service platform or a custom backend?
A managed platform can be the faster choice when its features match your game. A custom backend makes sense when you need game-specific rules, control over data and hosting, or predictable cost at scale. We can assess the trade-off for your game, including a hybrid approach.
Can you operate the backend after launch?
Yes, under an agreed managed-hosting scope with defined responsibilities, or we hand over to your team with runbooks, dashboards and deployment pipelines.
What do you need to prepare an estimate?
The game genre and platforms, the player features you need, any existing backend or data, expected player numbers if known, the target launch window and who will run the system. A design document helps but is not required.
How do you prevent duplicate rewards or purchases?
Valuable operations use explicit transaction and idempotency rules, authoritative validation and an audit trail suitable for investigation.
NEXT STEP
Bring us the constraint, not a polished brief.
A technical lead will review the current state and recommend the smallest useful next step.
Start a project
