Are you a new game studio about to launch the game of your dreams? Plan for success, but design for scale. 

More than 50 percent of gamers tell us they have been hacked. The recent Esports:Hacked research report published by DreamHack and Akamai illustrates how player accounts are valuable targets for cyber attacks. Any new game introduced today needs to build on a secure infrastructure from the start rather than having to patch it all up later. 

As studios start up, they’re thinking, how are we going to make the most awesome game, rather than, how am I going to scale this globally? What happens if I end up with a runaway hit? How can you build a strong foundation for your games from the start to ensure that both the studio and the players are kept secure from cyber criminals?

And most importantly – what do the gamers want?

The first research study asking the endusers themselves published by Akamai and DreamHack asked thousands of gamers about their views on data security. The study Esports: Hacked  shows that as many as 52 percent have been hacked, and 76 percent require the gaming companies to help keep them safe.

And if you want to learn more about this life or death topic for gaming studios and start ups, you can watch the upcoming webinar from Venturebeat and Akamai with some of the leading experts in the gaming security industry.

Don’t lose trust – it is your most valuable asset

“Plan for success, but design for scale. What you need to understand, if you’re starting a new studio, is that criminals are highly organized,” says Jonathan Singer, Senior Manager – Global Games Industry, Akamai. “They operate like an enterprise. They have product development that goes into QA. They make feature requests. They have marketing and PR. They spread misinformation through Reddit.”

And what happens if you don’t take security seriously from the start? If your game is compromised in a data breach, your players risk losing access to credit card information, player accounts and in-game assets. As a studio you might also end up losing the trust and user base you’ve worked so hard to build up. 

Build your ideal game studio infrastructure 

“’Data breach reveals 14 million gamer accounts’ is not the article you want to appear at the top of your google search results,” Jonathan Singer says. “So you need to think about security ahead of time.”

Download the Esports: Hacked-study

Or register for the free webinar  “From the ground up: Building your ideal game studio infrastructure” on November 19 at 19.00 hrs CET. Glen Schofield, Chief Executive Officer, Striking Distance Studios – Emily Greer, Co-founder & CEO, Double Loop Games – James Dobrowski, Managing Director, Sharkmob London – Jonathan Singer, Senior Manager – Global Games Industry, Akamai – Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat (moderator)