Playing online games is fun, joyful, and a prime leisure time activity. According to a report, 79% of players believe that video games help them reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. With a total market value of $198.40 billion in 2021, it is one of the fastest-growing markets.
Recent technological advancements have elevated every aspect of entertainment, and online games are no exception. With a huge influx of players, delivering content downloads, update size, and security concerns has become a challenge for developers and distributors. Server crashes, slow ping times, and security breaches, it’s hard to imagine how messy things could be. We have seen many established businesses collapse due to such problems.
A majority of the game developers rely on the Content Delivery Network (CDN) for efficiency and reliability. CDN is a smart and sophisticated network that eases the loads on edge servers and minimizes any failure risks. Be it infrastructure failures or any security breaches, CDN is always there to provide you the peace of mind.
We will explain the Gaming CDN and its benefits and how it helps game developers be on the top when it comes to providing the best possible gaming services. Continue reading to know more.
How does CDN for Gaming work?
Gaming CDNs work just like traditional Content Delivery Networks and provide points of presence (PoPs) in different locations across the globe. These PoPs streamline the content delivery and cache the content nearest to the gamer.
CDN helps offload bandwidth from the origin server, which helps in reducing the risk of server crashes and improves overall performance.
Let’s compare how things work with and without a CDN.
Without a CDN
The below image shows a connection diagram of a user trying to download an online game, patches, updates, or any other gaming-related file. Suppose a user from the USA is trying to access a game asset. His requests will travel all the way to the EU origin server. This enormous distance between the user and origin server results in:
- Slow loading of the content;
- Greater latency;
- Lower Average Revenue Per User (ARPU);
- Greater churn rate;
- Reduced Monthly Active User (MAU) and Retention Rate.
Imagine thousands of users trying to play an online game, access a video game file, or any other game asset. The origin server responds to millions of requests from all these users. Each step in this process adds a delay (latency), and if the user’s location is far from the origin server, the latency will be more compared to a user located near the origin server.
With a CDN:
The above-explained process is simple with a CDN. A CDN for gaming uses a geographically distributed network of servers to streamline the assets and downloads and caches the content nearest to the user. Doing so not only helps in improving overall game performance but also reduces the risks of any server failures by handling most of the user requests. These CDN servers offload bandwidth from the origin server, which enhances the download and speed. It also results in:
- Faster loading of the content;
- Lower latency;
- Greater Average Revenue Per User (ARPU);
- Lower churn rate;
- Increased Monthly Active User (MAU) and Retention Rate.
Why CDNvideo?
Online entertainment is undoubtedly one of the most demanding applications due to its high volume of data, engagement, and traffic of simultaneous users. Gaming companies are in desperate need of a solution that would allow them to provide the highest availability, scalability, fault tolerance, and reliability.
CDNvideo is a global CDN company with HeadQuarters in China. We specialize in fast and reliable CDN services. CDNvideo’s online gaming solutions provide the low total cost of ownership (TCO) along with the highest security, zero lag time, speed, and reliability. Our services empower you to reduce heavy infrastructure expenses, and operational and maintenance expenses.
With over 12 years of experience, we have served hundreds of Gaming companies like Opogame, Playflock, and AmoCRM, to name a few. We have a global presence with over 86,000 servers on five continents, and our network’s uptime is 99.99% which ensures uninterrupted services and lightning-fast downloads with maximum security. Gaming CDNs improve the overall user experience that directly impacts your business.
Our purposely designed Gaming CDN services include network infrastructure, cloud storage, DDoS protection, and Web Application Firewall (WAF) solutions. We aim to lift off the huge burden of game content delivery and distribution from your shoulders so that you focus on the creative and commercial parts to grow your business. Visit us to learn more.
Gaming CDNs improve the overall user experience that directly impacts your business. Let’s focus on the main advantages of a CDN for gaming and how it helps you strengthen your business.
Speed and reliability in connections
From a simple puzzle app to Massively Multiplayer Online role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), generation Z want everything super fast. Developers see a burst in traffic with the release of a new version, patch addition, or any update. Developers must focus on overall performance, fast downloads, and content reliability and consistency to be at the top tier.
Our Gaming CDN divides the load on the origin servers and improves the speed. The cached content is easily accessible from the nearest POP which improves the ping time and results in improved performance for players, and a better retention rate for the developers.
It is worth mentioning that a CDN for gaming does not guarantee 100% reliability as it involves many factors like your coverage area, local Internet Service Provider (ISP), etc. Developers must consider all these factors for a reliable connection that helps retain users and revenue. Gaming CDNs act as the first line of defense when it comes to any mishaps. From DDoS attacks to any malicious activity, CDN is there to protect your content.
Introducing CDNvideo’s Gaming CDN to your business improves the throughput needed for faster downloads. Users do not have to wait for their request to travel to the origin server and back, as it will be served locally via Gaming CDN. Any traffic overload on a server is redirected to another server with better resources, which results in faster content delivery. The optimized routing of the requests and better traffic distribution also allows managed bandwidth usage that helps in improving overall network performance.
Enough of the technical details, what about a practical solution? Well, the answer is simple. The CDNvideo’s purposely designed solutions and services. Our services lift every aspect of your business. Be it CDN services, Cloud services, or Anti-DDoS plus WAF solutions, we care what your business needs.
Zero Lag Time
Ping time or lag time is the time taken by the data to reach the gaming server.
Lag time should be reduced for a memorable online gaming experience. Players tend to leave if lag time is higher and they don’t like any responsiveness issues with the game, especially when they are playing MMOs or player versus player. There are many reasons for slow ping times and the most important of them is the slow origin servers.
There are many reasons for an increased lag time:
- Distance;
- Slow network infrastructure;
- Payload;
- Transmission mediums;
- Game application and website issues;
- Poor connection;
- Physical Issues ( Routers, switches, WiFi access points, etc.).
CDNvideo’s Network infrastructure improves the lag time by offering content from the PoPs closer to the user’s location. There is a whole mesh of servers located at different locations. If for some reason, the server in Madrid goes down, the Barcelona server will come into action, following the shortest route possible to serve the content. This all happens in the blink of an eye, and the user will not notice any inconsistency. The cached content in a CDN is served and delivered faster, reducing any unnecessary loads on the origin server.
Our Edge computing Platform serves the same purpose and has helped many businesses to bring high-performance computing, storage, and networking capabilities as close to the user as possible. CDNvideo’s Edge solution not only reduces latency but also improves locality and minimizes data transmission costs. Our services are just a click away. Get in touch to know more.
Data Security
Cyber attacks are common these days, and the gaming industry is one of the most targeted ones. According to a report by Radware, DDoS attacks increased by 37% in 2021. The report also mentions that the Gaming and Retail industries suffered the most. 22% of the total attacks targeted the gaming industry, and the average attack length was around 3.65 hours to 8.72 hours.
A DDoS attack disrupts the traffic flow on the server by flooding the internet traffic on it. This might have catastrophic results like slow ping time, server failure, and even server crashes which ruin the user experience, the network infrastructure, and business.
Our Gaming CDNs are well equipped and optimized to handle all these issues. They divide the traffic to POPs and act as a shield to the origin server, protecting it from mishaps. This multi-content delivery feature allows a seamless data packet transfer between the server and the user’s device.
CDNvideo’s Gaming CDNs use multiple mitigation centers as a protection against DDoS attacks. DDoS mitigation is the process of protecting a target from an attack. Mitigation has four stages where it detects any traffic flow deviation and then diverts this traffic from its desired target. In the next process, the ambiguous traffic is filtered out (using the patterns), and the attack is then analyzed to identify offenders and for future resilience.
CDNvideo’s CDN and Mitigation Centers
The Web Application Firewall (WAF) is another security feature that we use for content security. Our CDN WAF works at the user interface point, inspects every HTTP request, and tries to block any suspicious traffic. It acts as a filter and allows only secure traffic. This all happens with no interruption to service. WAF detects and prevents cyber threats like Bot attacks, cross-site scripting, DDoS attacks, cookie poisoning, and SQL injection.
With the addition of CDNvideo’s CDN solutions, you add an extra layer of security to your network that nullifies any threats to the origin server. We have mastered the art of anti-DDoS services, Web Application Firewall (WAF), and mitigation centers and are confident that you won’t regret your choice of hiring us.
Conclusion
Adding a Gaming CDN is one of the best options for a fast, secure, and reliable game content delivery. This will help you in gaining some good reviews and improve the business. Modern gamers want faster downloads, a great response time, and a secure platform to enjoy playing. From coverage area to the security features, Gaming CDNs are a must-have.
CDNvideo’s Content Delivery Network is one of the best platforms for Gaming CDNs. CDNvideo’s Cloud storage for large media files and other files is one of its kind. With more than 86,000 Networks across the globe, it helps you deliver content much faster and more securely. Our purpose-built gaming CDN ensures fast content delivery, lighting fast downloads with maximum security.
We have served hundreds of companies that have grown to be Gaming giants. Our team of skilled professionals is there to help boost your business and infrastructure. CDNvideo enables you to concentrate on the creative and commercial part of the business by loading off your infrastructure and costly maintenance. Visit us to know more.
