GameSparks - Transitioning to something new / Migrating to another LiveOps Platform
Let's help you find the right path
Together with our good friends at SuperNimbus we've got more experience of GameSparks and LiveOps than just about anybody else on the planet.
That's why AWS selected us to help their customers to migrate from GameSparks to something new.
If you're viewing this page then you're probably thinking "What the hell are we going to do?". The first thing is to not worry. Together we've got this..
1. Don't Panic
GameSparks isn't going anywhere until September '22. There's nobody waiting to pull the power cable out of the servers and run. We've got time to get this right but we're only 9 months away now. It's painful and we appreciate that but we're going to make this as painless as we possibly can.
2. There is Choice
There are options.. quite a few in shapes and sizes to suit everybody.
Maybe you've outgrown GameSparks and need to roll your own? Maybe you want more control and want to run your own services? Or maybe you just need the platform to be somebody-else's-problem-to-run and you just get the benefits. (see below for our partners and some options)
3. We're your player two
We're here to help and we're working with AWS's global Game Tech teams to make your life a bit easier. We work hand-in-hand with their internal teams so we can make your life just a little less complex. But.. we're independent and we're a karma company so we'll tell you exactly what we think is the best fits for you.
Most importantly AWS have asked us to focus on *you* the customer and your needs. Plus we're independent, we're not here to "sell" things to you or push you in any direction that doesn't work for you (and if you want to know the other bits about us - then check out our about us section).
How do you get started? Ping your account manager, partner team or we're happy to have a call and give you some directions and next steps (or we can help point you at the territory leads in AWS who can help you too).
We've got two booking forms depending on whether you're "Atlantic" (working around GMT up to Pacific Time US) or "Pacific" (West US and round the world past Asia)
We're in your timezone to make this easier
Book a Meeting
Wherever you are we've got you covered.
We've got staff across Europe and Pacific timezones so we can find a time that works for you.
Just book a meeting with a member of the team (if you're not sure who then pick Stuart!).
If you'd prefer to engage via AWS then please contact your account manager and they'll introduce you to us (or contact GameSparks support if you don't have a nominated account manager).
Or we've got an email below so you can send us an email to get started if that's easier.
Remember we're impartial so we'll give you the advice you need - and it's free.
Need to Speak to Somebody Quicker?
If the booking forms don't work or you just need to ask an important question then drop us an email.
Some of your Options
EPIC ONLINE SERVICES
BEAMABLE
ACCELBYTE
ACCELERATXR
BITHEADS' BRAINCLOUD
AWS CORE SERVICES
HEROIC LABS' NAKAMA
FAQ
Some frequently asked questions that we can possibly help you with..
What do Code Wizards need to do a migration/transition assessment report? All we need is access to your GameSparks instance (read-only) so we can see what's there. If you use other external code repositories then that's useful too. If you can tell us about your future plans/expansions then we can give you even more personalised advice to help you in the short and longer term.
How long does a GameSparks transition report take? It depends on complexity. We do a base report which takes around 4 to 6 hours and a full report which is more comprehensive and takes 2 to 3 days. We can help you find which is best for you.
I just want to speak to your partners at Beamable/AccelByte/EOS/Heroic Labs' Nakama/bitHeads' brainCloud can you introduce us? We'd be happy to - we're a we-believe-in-karma company so we're happy to help
Are there any other companies doing this kind of work? Yes. We're happy to introduce you to them too (see our belief in karma bit above!). Start with SuperNimbus as they're awesome.
Why pick one LiveOps platform over another? They're all different and give you various features and ways of working. As a short illustration: The guys at Beamable are awesome for Unity work and they're game developers so they talk games and have made a tool that tries to avoid code. Heroic Labs' Nakama is a great fit for teams with engineering expertise and you can tune and code it to customise your needs (and it's open source to future proof you). AccelByte can make your headache disappear as they can handle all the migration and build for you plus you get other bonuses like a PC launcher platform. EOS brings the power and reliability of Epic Games to the table, it's free, has voice comms, and has a very active development roadmap. brainCloud is a full SaaS and super easy to use if you know GameSparks. Or you can build your own exactly for your use case. If you're interested then speak to us and we'll tell you our professional opinion on what may work best for you. In short; it's important you look at each for what you need from it now and in the future.
We want to build our own - can you help? Absolutely - we have a number of clients moving to their own bespoke liveops setup so they can tune it completely to their (present and future) platform needs. We can help you create the right architecture and develop it for you too if you need help.
The September '22 deadline isn't a hard deadline for turning GameSparks off is it? Yes we're afraid it is. We're pushing for a go-live data for any GameSparks migrations of pre-July 2022. That's the latest we feel safe migrating players, code, and their purchases over to a new system with enough time to verify the solution before GameSparks is turned off.
Without these guys we wouldn't have had the early access launch that we achieved. Tireless, tenacious and game experts i can't recommend them enough
Marco Bettencourt, CEO, RedCatPig
Code Wizards? What do i think about the help on GameSparks migration? F***ing Awesome!
Jaycee Salinas, Creative Direction, Ask An Enemy Studios
Working In Partnership
We're up for (almost) anything.
We believe that life is better in co-op (and if we can't help then we probably know somebody else that we can direct you to). Get in touch.