The Many Ways Online Gaming Servers Mess Up Games

Published on: January 2, 2025 | 5 minute read

Lag-induced frustrations. A pause whilst in the heat of a guild battle that cost you and your team the win. In the exhilarating world of online games, anyone avid enough to have played a game will surely have their share of horror stories as to how a second’s disaster spelled victory or caused them defeat. Most of these stories, of course, happen in the front lines dressed by graphics and a suitable environment. But for those who are in the know regarding the more technical side of online gaming, it ultimately boils down to either praise and thanks, or insult-filled anger towards the one thing that makes all this possible in the background: online gaming servers.

In What Ways Do Servers Actually Affect Online Games?

Did you know that the performance of online game servers most often hinges upon the very functionality of a server infrastructure? The effectiveness of online game server architecture, as a matter of fact, can impact various parts of gaming. This includes and is not limited to the execution of the actual game mechanics themselves, the reliability and availability of a server that ensures you and your team are there in the moment when you need to be, and, last but not least, the online gaming setup that has the most impact on whether a game stays relevant or drops out of favor in the long run.

But exactly how does this happen?

Server Performance = Gameplay Experience

The performance of servers directly influences the gameplay experience for most players. The best online game servers can handle multiple connections at any given time and provide smoother gameplay even for the thousands of gamers who come online. Meanwhile, low-performance servers often lead to interruptions, an angry mob, and so many heated comments on social media about the experience literally bombed out.

The dissatisfaction can be due to something as simple as lagging for example, that can significantly affect player interaction, particularly in competitive scenarios where every fraction of a second matters. Ensuring that servers have low latency and high bandwidth is king for maintaining real-time responsiveness during important gameplays.

Data Consumption + Network Infrastructure

The surge in popularity of online gaming has led to increased data consumption. This means that very high demands being placed on game server infrastructure dedicated solely to online games are often a thing, particularly for those titles that feature high-resolution graphics and real-time interactions.

Titles like Destiny 2, a highly popular looter-shooter, or Call of Duty: Warzone, a battle royale game, are notorious for consuming massive amounts of MBs per hour during gameplay. And consider this: gamers are often subscribed to multiple titles that consume substantial amounts of data each, which strains server infrastructure and bandwidth requirements. This has prompted the necessity for robust data centers and server systems that are capable of managing the increased load and ensuring high availability for players.

Impact of DNS Servers

While players often believe that using specific DNS servers can enhance their gaming performance, the reality is that such modifications typically have limited impact on reducing latency and improving their gaming sessions. Although the best online gaming DNS servers can, in theory, decrease resolution times, the magnitude of impact is often outweighed by more vital factors such as the speed of the internet connection and proximity to gaming servers near a player.

Did you know that the farther you are from your online game server host, the higher the tendency for you to experience lag and other disruptions during your game time?

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) alleviate the stress caused by high demand in online gaming environments. CDNs enhance online game server hosting functionality by distributing game data across nodes geographically closer to players. This minimizes delays and improves the speed by which you access your games’ stored online resources. It also allows for a more reliable and responsive gaming experience, which is particularly important for multiplayer games with numerous concurrent users such as Fortnite, which boasts 1.6 million concurrent players at its peak, and Roblox, which has made headlines with around 1.7 million players online at most gaming times.

Cloud Gaming > Server Technology?

The advent of cloud gaming has transformed how games are delivered and played. This does not mean it clashes with the need for gaming infrastructure companies to innovate server technology. Actually, it further emphasizes the importance of banking on better server technology.

Games can now be streamed from dedicated servers rather than being processed locally on players' devices. But although this model is flexible and accessible, it also requires substantial backend support to handle the traffic and maintain performance.

This puts a tab on how critical the nature of the game server architecture is in modern gaming environments.

Were there any games in the past or present that got affected due to issues with servers?

Various games, both past and present, have experienced significant disruptions due to server issues, and below are notable examples of such unfortunate instances. Many games have historically suffered from server-related problems that, in turn, have led to player frustration and, the saddest fate a game can have, abandonment.

Anthem: This game faced severe server issues upon release, with many players unable to enjoy the game properly. The problems contributed to a negative reception and hindered the game's longevity, ultimately leading to its decline.
Darkspore: As one of the earliest examples of a game where server issues rendered it unplayable, Darkspore became infamous for its DRM practices. When the servers were shut down, players permanently lost access to the game, despite having purchased it.
Final Fantasy XI: This MMORPG saw the last of its official servers shut down in March 2016, marking the end of an era for players. It faced considerable operational challenges leading up to its discontinuation because maintaining online game private server infrastructures became unsustainable.
Google Stadia: Launched in 2019 and discontinued in 2022, the platform struggled with online gaming issues like server reliability and performance, which frustrated users and contributed to its closure