The Challenge

When a VR game goes viral, the backend infrastructure needs to keep up. Our client had a hit on their hands—hundreds of thousands of concurrent users—but their platform needed hardening across multiple dimensions:

• Load testing that reflected actual player behavior, not just API calls
• Parental controls for a growing under-18 player base
• Real-time notifications for player engagement
• Compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and platform requirements

The unique constraint: the game had a diegetic design philosophy with no traditional UI. Any new features had to feel like part of the game world.

Our Approach

Authentic Load Testing

We built a unique 3-layer architecture to test from the actual player perspective:

• TypeScript API (backend services)
• C# SDK (game client)
• Python wrapper (Locust load testing)

The client was adamant: testing must reflect real player experience. So we wrapped the actual game client SDK into Python to simulate authentic user interactions at scale.

Diegetic Parental Controls

We integrated parental controls that maintained the game’s immersive, UI-free design. Using C# Azure Functions as a secure backend proxy, we delivered age gating, session management, and voice chat controls—all through in-game interfaces that feel native to the experience.

Real-Time Notifications

We built a push notification system using Redis Streams for message distribution and AWS API Gateway WebSockets for client connections, enabling real-time player engagement without polling overhead.

The Results

The engagement was “wall-to-wall positive” per client feedback.

• Hundreds of thousands of CCU supported reliably
• 6+ major workstreams delivered under a single retainer
• Diegetic parental controls that don’t break immersion
• Multi-layer load testing simulating actual player behavior