March 20, 2019
Epic’s free Online Services launch for all game developers
The first of the available services is game analytics, which helps developers understand player behavior. It shows you everything from DAU, MAU, retention, new player counts, game launch counts, online user counts, and more. The second available service is the ticketing system, which connects players directly with developers, allowing them to report bugs or other problems. By leveraging these tools, developers can better understand how and where their games are gaining traction with players and connect directly with players to provide customer support.
This is just the beginning. Through the SDK and developer portal, Epic now has the framework that will be used to provide all future services. The first two services will continue to evolve along with the rest of Epic Online Services (EOS) to provide infrastructure and tools to help developers launch, operate, and scale high-quality online games. We are committed to developing EOS with features that can be used with any engine, any store and that can support any major platform. Proven on a massive scale with Fortnite across seven platforms, these services will allow developers to deliver cross-platform gameplay experiences that enable players to enjoy games with their friends, no matter what platform they play on.
Throughout 2019, we will offer additional free services that include:
- Player data storage (targeting May 2019): Store and enumerate arbitrary game data on behalf of authorized players.
- Player reports (targeting May 2019): Allow players to report others for positive or negative in-game behavior. Gain valuable feedback directly from the community.
- Achievements, leaderboards & stats (targeting September 2019): Keep track of individual and global player statistics, award in-game achievements, and rank players on leaderboards.
- Communications (targeting October 2019): Enable in-game communication between players across any platform.
- Overlay (targeting October 2019): Provide a unified overlay for friends and other online services that are available to players across different games and engines.
- Parties (targeting October 2019): Enable players to form groups and play together.
- Matchmaking (targeting November 2019): Set up game matches for individual players or predetermined groups.
- Player identity (targeting December 2019): Enable players to log in and connect with others across different platforms.
- Player inventory (targeting December 2019): Manage player inventories, including purchases across different game stores.
For more details on Epic Online Services offerings and to download the SDK, visit dev.epicgames.com/services and sign into the developer portal today. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to receive updates as new services become available.