Case Study: Gameforge AG achieves global, scalable game launches and rapid deployment with Microsoft Azure

European leader in online gaming launches groundbreaking new title on Microsoft Azure platform

Gameforge, a leading European publisher of online games with 20 titles and over 450 million registered players, faced a technology bottleneck as it expanded globally. Its on-premises datacenters and local hosts limited scalability and marketing agility, threatening performance during promotions and the launch of Dropzone, a real‑time, graphic‑intensive multiplayer strategy game.

Gameforge adopted a hybrid architecture that keeps user accounts on-premises in Germany while shifting game servers to Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines running a custom Linux Ubuntu image. Leveraging existing automation and Hyper‑V tooling, the team can spin up servers in seconds, scale globally, and maintain high availability—enabling Dropzone’s early‑access debut in February 2017 and giving the company greater marketing flexibility and capacity for future titles.

Gameforge AG

Felix Oechsler

Technical Director