We're thrilled to announce the return of GamesBeat Next, hosted in San Francisco this October, where we will explore the theme of "Playing the Edge." Apply to speak here and learn more about sponsorship opportunities here. At the event, we will also announce 25 top game startups as the 2024 Game Changers. Apply or nominate today!
Epic Games learned a lot about creating online services with the launch of Fortnite, the enormously successful battle royale game with 250 million users. And now it is giving away those online services to game developers for free to operate and scale games across any engine, store, and platform using a single Epic Online Services software development kit (SDK)..
Originally built for Fortnite, Epic Online Services have been battle-tested by nearly 250 million players and are a suite of robust solutions for developers to provide players with a unified social experience across platforms.
Although they were announced in December, today marks the first availability of services for developers. Through a single SDK and a developer portal, developers can access services, including game analytics to understand and boost player retention and engagement and a ticketing system to connect directly with players through integrated customer support tools that tie tickets to a player’s profile.
“You can use our Epic Online Services on any platform across any store for free, including competing stores,” said Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, in an interview with GamesBeat. “You have no obligation to ship on our store. Everything works. You can put games from any engine on our store and use any services you like. Developers are free to mix and match and choose.”
Event
GamesBeat Next 2023
Join the GamesBeat community in San Francisco this October 24-25. You’ll hear from the brightest minds within the gaming industry on latest developments and their take on the future of gaming.
He added, “That’s the principle our developers rely on in order to make sense of their world. Can you imagine how dysfunctional it would be if you were only allowed to use one physics system on one console and another one on another console? Now you have to build physics twice? That doesn’t work. But that was the situation that was slowly arising with friends and matchmaking and stuff. It’s great that it’s all being sorted out.”
By leveraging these free tools, developers can better understand how and where their games are gaining traction with players, connect directly with players for customer support, and access a unified portal to manage all services without the need for building out an internal infrastructure. Additional features and tools will continue to become available throughout 2019.
GamesBeat's creed when covering the game industry is "where passion meets business." What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you -- not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. Discover our Briefings.
