Multi-player, network, Server confusion

The basic topic for this question is this… I’m having trouble wrapping my head around this whole multi-player and network services that all these companies offer… I first started to learn about networking through Ue4 and they have a lot of content about Steam… I was then interested in knowing how to launch a future game with servers and how to host various games… So I saw a lot of content on that mostly aws etc… And then I stumbled upon gamesparks and back end services as they call it…

Now I want to know the difference between online subsystem - steam, hosting services - aws, back end services gamesparks… And also gamelift by Amazon… Do I need all three to make a game like this? Do I just need aws and steam… Or does steam offer its own hosting services… Someone with this type of knowledge please explain to me as much as possible how all of this works and how can you tie it in with unreal, because I can’t seem to find anything in the topic. Any links to further explain this would also be much appreciated.

Thank you very much for your time!

Hi ,

Sorry for the delay in getting to you message! In case you had not yet found your answer, or someone else has a similar question, I will post my response anyway.

GameSparks offers a cloud-based solution for game developers that aims to help them build their server-side components without ever having to set up and run a server themselves.

We also offer integration with platforms such as Steam, Twitch and Facebook. You can read about this here → https://docs.gamesparks.com/documentation/configurator/integrations.html

If you want to integrate GameSparks into your UE4 game you can get the SDK here → https://docs.gamesparks.com/sdk-center/

This includes a sample project and a tutorial that will guide you in how to set up the GameSparks plugin with UE4.

Our GameSparks plugin for Unreal engine offer access to Real-Time Services. Tutorials for how to use the GameSparks Real-Times survices can be found here → https://docs.gamesparks.com/tutorials/real-time-services/

Alternatively, some users decide to use us in tandem with GameLift, together we’re a match made in GameDev heaven!

If you have any further questions then please feel free to ask in the forums or contact us on our support page!
https://support.gamesparks.net/support/home

Best of luck in your projects!

Can You update links in your Answer?