Astro Boy: Edge of Time

Based on the extensive work of beloved manga creator Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy: Edge of Time is a collectible digital card game that sees classic characters reimagined for the modern age. The game was released in 2017 for mobile phones and computers. Fortunately, Edge of Time already had a large fandom following established from its Kickstarter campaign in 2016, making it wildly successful almost immediately.

Alongside a robust team of eight other professionals, I contributed to Astro Boy: Edge of Time by developing the multiplayer functionality. We used the Photon engine in Unity 3D to ensure the backend was equipped with excellent speed and performance for online playing. By setting up a server-client architecture, we could run all game logic at full frame rate and quickly send data back to each client.

Challenges

Creating a secure and reliable backend was one of the biggest challenges because of how central multiplayer functionality is for this game. Our game development team also wanted to implement all of the logic on the server-side to avoid cheating on the client’s end. With this in mind, we selected a server that would be easy to use, extendable for future development, and scale naturally when the number of players increases. The Photon server checked all of these boxes, making it an easy choice as we moved forward in Unity 3D development.

As mentioned, the game already had a solid fanbase, and we knew that the multiplayer game size would be even more significant due to the use of Tezuka characters. Our team was thankful to have previous experience with multiplayer functionality, as we had just succeeded with this in the Maison game. This experience was crucial for setting up the server-side of the project.

Approach

Our approach included a MySQL database for storing all the data, with all the essential game logic set up on the server-side. We also took into consideration that load balancing would be more crucial for this type of game development. Furthermore, our team carried out a stress test for the server-side to ensure it could handle the vast number of players that we expected. Throughout the extended hours of the stress test, we gathered the necessary data and analyzed performance.

Our game development team successfully set up the Photon server in AWS, ensured Photon server load balancing, set up the MySQL databases, and implemented game logic in the server while securing data communication between the game, server, and database.

Additionally, we wanted to make sure that our approach included user behaviors. To understand the player better, we made sure to collect user data and analyze common behaviors after the initial release. For us, it was crucial to collect analytics such as the quest completion rate, DAU, and MAU. Then, based on the information collected, our game designers can update and refine the game. In addition to my role in multiplayer development, I also developed a KPI tool for tracking daily users and their activities through Steam.