2022 review: Building multiplayer games with Unity

Unity's multiplayer tools have evolved over the last year – and so have our resources for game developers. Here's a quick peek at the biggest multiplayer moments of 2022.

Product updates

We launched new and updated services that are focused on quick setup and easy access for developers working on any kind of multiplayer game, using any tech stack they want to. 

Accelerate multiplayer game development with UGS Multiplayer Solutions

Unity’s Multiplayer Solutions saw an expansion in its capabilities with the launch of Unity Game Server Hosting (Multiplay) and Matchmaker self-serve, Netcode for GameObjects, and a new battle royale sample made in partnership with Photon.

Announcing new tools for multiplayer development in Unity

Explore the latest tech available within the Unity ecosystem to create your multiplayer game – from netcode SDKs to tooling support.

Developer stories

Want to know what it takes to build a successful multiplayer game? This year we worked with some great studios to tell their stories. 

Landing the punch to make Divine Knockout a winner for Hi-Rez Studios

Learn how Hi-Rez Studios and Red Beard Games paired Unity Gaming Services with the Unreal Engine to prep for success with their latest multiplayer title, Divine Knockout.

Hugecalf rocket-fuel their multiplayer development

A talented young team without multiplayer experience utilize UGS Multiplayer Solutions to deliver a fast-paced, physics-heavy multiplayer title with rock-solid infrastructure.

How Ramen VR uses Vivox

Learn about Ramen VR’s process and discover some of the Unity tools and solutions they used to bring Zenith: The Last City to life.

Samples

Want to see what you can do with these tools in a real environment? In 2022, we published new samples to get you started quickly and easily.

Photon Fusion and Unity Game Server Hosting sample

Unity has teamed up with Photon to launch a new asset to help you produce peak performance on Unity’s Game Server Hosting (Multiplay) orchestration platform and Matchmaker.

Galactic Kittens: A 2D small scale co-op sample

Learn more about building a small scale cooperative game with Unity’s Netcode for GameObjects in our sample project Galactic Kittens.

Boss Room:A 3D small scale co-op sample

Boss Room is a small scale cooperative game sample project – built with Netcode for GameObjects, Relay, and Lobby – designed to help you explore the patterns behind a multiplayer game.

Unreal SDKs

UGS Multiplayer Solutions also integrates with the Unreal Engine. This year, we published some guides to make sure developers know how to set up our tools if they’re building in Unreal.

Setting up Game Server Hosting (Multiplay) in Unreal Engine

In this Game Server Hosting (Multiplay) integration guide for Unreal, we’ll show you how to initialize the Game Server Hosting SDK, create a build, build configuration, fleet, and test allocation.

Setting up Vivox Voice and Text Chat in Unreal Engine

In this Vivox integration demo for Unreal, we’ll show you how to initialize the Vivox SDK, log into the Vivox surface, and join an “echo” channel.

Insights

​​We published a landmark report in 2022 to help you understand what consumers want from their multiplayer games and arm you with the knowledge to make the best decisions for your projects in 2022 and beyond.

3 things gamers want from in-game chat

What do gamers expect and want from in-game communication experiences today?

Mobile multiplayer 101: Your ideal tech stack

Read on to explore all the tools you need to build your ideal mobile multiplayer tech stack.

Unity Multiplayer Report 2022

Get the report Read the blog
Survey
  • As the market expands and more complex multiplayer games are made, the list of areas to focus on and understand grows.
  • Unity surveyed more than 1,500 multiplayer gamers in the US, UK, Japan, and Korea to provide you with data to improve your game
Statistics
  • 52% of the population play games, and 77% of those play multiplayer games
  • 61% of multiplayer gamers purchased DLC in the thirty days before being surveyed
  • 56% of gamers prefer creating chat parties in-game
Report
  • Download the full report to dive into practical takeaways on a huge range of topics like genre popularity, player communication trends, must-have in-game features, and more

Getting to know UGS Multiplayer

As we launched our new suite of tools, we made sure that we had some short and snappy videos to tell developers what our services are all about.

Intro to Vivox

When players can talk – they stay in your game longer. Improve your retention with Vivox, one of the most popular and feature-rich comms technology in the gaming industry.

What is Game Server Hosting (Multiplay)?

Unity’s in-house expert Caleb gives you a quick overview of how our Game Server Hosting solution works and how to get started.

What is Unity Matchmaker?

Software Engineer Caleb gives you a quick overview of what Matchmaker does and how to get started with it.

Intro to Lobby

Unity’s Lobby service lets game devs implement a multiplayer lobby for their players to communicate and collaborate before – and during – game sessions.

Intro to Relay

Unity’s Relay service allows players to connect and enjoy immersive, cooperative multiplayer gaming experiences without the need for a dedicated game server.

Intro to Netcode

Netcode for GameObjects is a networking library and netcode foundation for the Unity Engine that you can depend on – customizable and extensible to meet the needs of your next multiplayer project.

Learning resources

From introducing concepts and use-cases, to getting hands on and showing you how to integrate features you want for your multiplayer games, the guides we published this year feature some of the greatest multiplayer minds at Unity.

Tutorial and demo for Game Server Hosting and Matchmaker

Learn how to use Unity Game Server Hosting (Multiplay) and Matchmaker in this on-demand webinar hands-on tutorial with in-house experts Dan and Galal.

In-game chat guide for developers

Learn the basics of in-game player communications to plan for your next project.

How to manage network latency in multiplayer games

Distance between server and clients, packet hops, a server’s tick and update rate, and a plethora of other issues contribute to multiplayer lag – here’s how to address it.

Multiplayer Scaling Roundtable

Find out how to scale a Dedicated Game Server (DGS) solution with leading experts in this highlights clip from our scaling round table.

P2P vs DGS: Which model Is right for your game server?

Peer-to-peer (P2P) and dedicated game server (DGS) models are both popular choices for hosting your game server – but which one is right for you?

Community solutions from Vivox: Your in-game player comms

In this on-demand webinar, we provide an overview of Voice and Text Chat from Vivox and teach you how to get started bringing high-quality voice comms to your multiplayer games.

An introduction to multiplayer network and server models

Learn the basics of multiplayer network and server models, their pros and cons, and how to choose the best solution for your multiplayer game.

Unity 2022.2 Tech Stream

Unity’s final engine release of the year, the 2022.2 Tech Stream, was released on December 8th. Within the release came Netcode for GameObjects and Netcode for Entities, two networking packages built for Unity.

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