Scalable Asymmetrical Matchmaking with Diarkis: Powering Real-Time Multiplayer for Games

Asymmetrical multiplayer games like Dead by Daylight and Dragon Ball: The Breakers present unique challenges in matchmaking due to their distinct player roles and team compositions. Traditional matchmaking systems often struggle to accommodate these complexities, leading to imbalanced matches and suboptimal player experiences. Diarkis offers a robust solution tailored for such scenarios, providing a decentralized, in-memory matchmaking system designed for real-time, low-latency player matching across distributed server clusters.

Understanding Asymmetrical Matchmaking Challenges

In asymmetrical games, players assume roles with differing objectives and capabilities. For instance, in Dead by Daylight, one player takes on the role of a killer, while four others play as survivors. Similarly, Dragon Ball: The Breakers pits a powerful Raider against a team of seven survivors. These role disparities necessitate matchmaking systems that can account for varying player skills, preferences, and team dynamics.(GameWatcher, Sportskeeda)

Traditional matchmaking systems, often reliant on centralized databases, may not efficiently handle such complexities. They can suffer from latency issues, single points of failure, and limited scalability, leading to mismatched games and player dissatisfaction.

Diarkis MatchMaker: A Tailored Solution

Diarkis addresses these challenges with its MatchMaker module, a decentralized, in-memory system designed for high-performance matchmaking. Key features include:

• Decentralized State Storage: Match data is dynamically distributed across multiple nodes within the Diarkis server cluster, eliminating single points of failure and enhancing both redundancy and availability.
• High Throughput and Low Latency: Designed for fast player pairing, the system supports high matchmaking concurrency with minimal latency, ideal for session-based or competitive multiplayer environments.
• Fault Tolerance and Scalability: The distributed architecture enables horizontal scaling, allowing additional nodes to be added seamlessly without impacting system performance. In the event of a node failure, matchmaking continuity is maintained by rerouting tasks to other healthy nodes within the cluster.
• Robust Query & Grouping Logic: Diarkis MatchMaker supports customizable match logic, including rule-based filters, dynamic prioritization, and conditional queueing for optimized player experience.

At its core, Diarkis MatchMaker uses user-defined matching rules and query conditions. Developers are free to implement complex or simple rules, including but not limited to:

• Matching based on custom player attributes such as level, rank, role, or latency.
• Filtering players using dynamic criteria, such as play style, past match history, or regional constraints.
• Supporting role-based and asymmetrical matchmaking, where players can be placed into different team configurations (e.g., 1 vs 4, 3 vs 3 with unique roles).

This flexibility is made possible through match profiles, which group players based on developer-defined criteria. For instance, players can be automatically assigned to buckets using attributes like level, region, or game mode, allowing the system to maintain balance and ensure fair matches.

Comparative Overview: Diarkis MatchMaker vs. Typical Matchmaking Systems

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Implementing Diarkis in Asymmetrical Games

Integrating Diarkis into games like Dead by Daylight and Dragon Ball: The Breakers can enhance matchmaking by:(Game Informer)

• Role-Based Matching: Assigning players to roles based on preferences and skill levels.
• Dynamic Team Composition: Forming teams that balance experience and capabilities.
• Real-Time Adjustments: Adapting matchmaking criteria based on player behavior and game dynamics.

By leveraging Diarkis's capabilities, developers can create more engaging and balanced asymmetrical multiplayer experiences.(Game Developer)

In conclusion, Diarkis offers a comprehensive solution for the intricate demands of asymmetrical game matchmaking. Its decentralized, scalable, and customizable architecture addresses the limitations of traditional systems, ensuring balanced and engaging multiplayer experiences.

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