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Dev tools · March 15, 2024

OM

OpenGB – modular game back end engine with first-class scripting

I’m tired of getting screwed by game backends like Microsoft PlayFab and Unity Gaming Services. To get a simple cross-platform friends system, we’ve bent over backward fighting against their limited APIs to jerry-rig the behavior we need. These backends “solved” their platform’s rigidity by tacking on a clunky scripting layer [1] [3] with a proprietary KV database [2] [4] (look ma, no transactions!). They proceed to claim you can build a LiveOps game on this rubbish without testing, database migrations, monitoring, BI tooling, etc. We got fed up and built an open-source backend engine as an…

OpenGB – modular game back end engine with first-class scripting launched on March 15, 2024 with 20 votes, #1,146 of 4,270 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches.

In plain words

OpenGB is an open-source game backend engine designed as an alternative to proprietary services like PlayFab and Unity Gaming Services. It features modular architecture with customizable modules, scripts, and registries to accommodate different game requirements. Built for developers who need flexible cross-platform functionality like friends systems and LiveOps features, OpenGB provides a transactional database and tooling for testing, migrations, and monitoring that commercial backends lack.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

In the maker’s words, at launch

I’m tired of getting screwed by game backends like Microsoft PlayFab and Unity Gaming Services. To get a simple cross-platform friends system, we’ve bent over backward fighting against their limited APIs to jerry-rig the behavior we need. These backends “solved” their platform’s rigidity by tacking on a clunky…

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