GAMEPERF08-BP01 Inform and include the player in your process

Provide an option to display in game metrics like latency, frames per second and dropped packets. Surface infrastructure issues and maintenance downtime through player facing communication like status pages. Celebrate new game locations with player comms including dev blogs and set expectations for expected player experience improvements.

Level of risk exposed if this best practice is not established: High

Implementation guidance

Include the player

Provide a simple diagnostic submission process that collects relevant files and attaches them to a player support ticket from your game client. Enable a support forum where players can help each other and become a part of improving the game experience

Consider trade-offs versus player expectations

Moving backend systems for cost efficiency may not be noticeable to players but moving game servers can change ping time. Be consistent and fair to players with reasoning for expansion and reduction of your game hosting locations.

Player communities and geographies will have their own characteristics that may impact expectations of your game. For example, South Korea has some of the fastest internet on the planet and the expectation for gameplay is single digit latency which drives highly competitive play. Casual gameplay on mobile devices creates a different performance profile and use pattern in comparison to console and PC session play.

Login and lobby are a part of the experience and should feel responsive, even if the server is offline for maintenance. Raid night planning or hanging out in the lobby is part of the player experience and is important to consider when choosing focus areas for performance efficiency. Players may leave your game client open for months, sometimes they may just log in occasionally to read the patch notes. A Live Ops game needs to keep the entire player experience in mind as a part of engineering process and culture.

Implementation steps