DevCom 2025 – Essential Multiplayer and Technical Sessions to Attend
As self-admitted backend nerds, we've polled our engineers and listed their top sessions that addresses the challenges and highs of working on multiplayer projects at DevCom 2025.
Syncing Sanity: Decoding Networked Gameplay as a Single-Player Developer
Takeaway: How single-player design patterns and conventions evolve when applied to multiplayer systems.
Transitioning from single-player to multiplayer development can feel like learning an entirely new craft. This session offers a refreshing perspective on how developers with no prior multiplayer experience can successfully navigate the complexities of networked gameplay.
The presentation walks through the real-world development of Indus, a 60-player Battle Royale, highlighting the critical shift in thinking required when moving from single-player architecture where "the entire state of every entity is accessible at all times" to multiplayer systems where data synchronization becomes paramount.
Key topics include the innovative 'Spatial Player Awareness System' and techniques for working with minimal synchronized state. The session explores how to be selective about data transmission, keeping it compact while deriving maximum information from limited networked data.
Speaker: Aiman Azees, Senior Gameplay & Platform Engineer, SuperGaming PTE LTD
Security on a Shoestring: Hardening Your Game for $0 in One Sprint
Takeaway: See proof that significant threats can be mitigated affordably with open-source tooling, minimal engineer-hours, and smart prioritisation.
In an era where indie and AA studios face nation-state-grade security threats without matching budgets, this lightning-fast session delivers practical, immediately actionable security solutions. The presenter outlines ten open-source security controls that can be implemented in a single sprint without any financial investment.
The comprehensive approach covers the entire development pipeline, starting with repository security using OpenSSF Scorecard and Gitleaks, implementing automatic dependency management with Dependabot/Renovate, and progressing through static analysis, build signing with Sigstore Cosign, and runtime protection with ModSecurity/Cloudflare WAF.
What makes this session particularly valuable is its practical focus - most tools integrate with GitHub Actions or GitLab CI using 15 lines of YAML or less, making implementation straightforward for teams of any size.
Speaker: Ozhan Sisic, Director of Cybersecurity, Jagex
The Invisible War Against Mobile Game Cheats – A Global Defense Perspective
Takeaway: Raising awareness about cheating issues, introducing anti-cheat technologies, sharing practical experiences in anti-cheat strategies.
Mobile game security has evolved from a technical nuisance to an existential threat to ecosystem sustainability. This session provides a systematic breakdown of the global mobile game security landscape, offering insights typically reserved for major studios.
The presentation covers three critical areas: understanding worldwide security risks specific to mobile games, analyzing both common and advanced cheating tools with corresponding countermeasures, and implementing comprehensive defense architecture methodologies.
Particularly valuable are the technical details of actual attack/defense scenarios and specialized countermeasures, backed by Tencent's validated defense strategies across multiple successful game titles.
Speakers: Yue Wang, Director, Tencent Games
Lock, Load, and Lag: Overcoming Network Challenges in Mobile Shooters
Takeaways: Understanding of the challenges of unstable ping connection and specific ways to work with it. Understanding of ways how to approach client-side prediction for low-spec devices
Mobile multiplayer shooters face unique challenges that desktop games rarely encounter - unstable network conditions combined with lower-spec hardware create a perfect storm of technical difficulties. This session focuses on three specific challenges encountered during the development of a third-person co-op mobile shooter built on Unreal Engine 5.
The presentation addresses critical issues including developing netcode that gracefully handles unstable ping conditions, implementing effective testing techniques for unreliable network scenarios, and optimizing client-side lag compensation for resource-constrained devices.
Special attention is given to prediction algorithms and hit registration implementation, with practical examples of ensuring optimal player experience regarding hit perception in mobile shooter environments.
Speaker: Matej Vrba, Senior Network Engineer, Virtuos Labs Prague
