Metaplay vs Namazu Elements
Metaplay
metaplay.ioNamazu Elements
namazustudios.comSide by side
| Figure | Metaplay | Namazu Elements |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | €195/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 17 | 2 |
| Spec score · Game Matchmaking Software | 9.0 (#6) | 7.7 (#23) |
| Integrations | Metaplay lists analytics export to BigQuery and S3, purchase validation for Google Play, App Store and Steam, and sign-in options including Google, Apple, Facebook, Steam and custom web login. | The maker lists Unity, GameMaker, and Godot as supported game-engine integrations. |
| Intended users | Metaplay describes its audience as ambitious game studios building server-authoritative games, from prototype through global launch, including teams operating multiple titles. | The maker identifies indie developers, studios of all sizes, and backend engineers as intended users. |
| Support | The pricing page offers community Discord support, weekday engineer support tiers, and a critical incident add-on with 24/7 availability and a one-hour response SLA. | AWS Marketplace configurations include private helpdesk support, while the managed cloud beta lists helpdesk support from Namazu Studios. |
Plans
Metaplay
- Community supportFree
- Community SupportFree
- FreeFree
- FreeFree
- Starter€195 a month
- Starter€195 a month
- Pre-launch€995 a month
- Pre-Launch€995 a month
- Standard support€1,500 a month
- Standard Support€1,500 a month
Namazu Elements
- Namazu Elements Community EditionFree
- Namazu CloudPriced on request
In their own words
Metaplay
Metaplay is a backend platform for building and operating live-service games. It uses a server-authoritative C# game server with a Unity client library and shared client-server logic. Its LiveOps dashboard includes player segmentation, A/B testing, over-the-air configuration updates, events, economy management, and player support tools. The SDK also includes guilds, social features, leaderboards, leagues, and asynchronous matchmaking; synchronous matchmaking is in active development. Hosting choices include managed Metaplay Cloud, customer AWS infrastructure, another Kubernetes cluster, or on-premises deployment. The platform supports Unity games on iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux, and WebGL, with Unity 2020.3 LTS and later. The free plan provides the full SDK and a local server for local development. Starter costs €195 a month. Managed Metaplay Cloud supports single-region deployments; multi-region deployments are supported on self-hosted infrastructure.
Namazu Elements
Namazu Elements is an open-source backend server and LiveOps platform for online and connected multiplayer games. It includes player accounts and profiles, matchmaking, leaderboards, inventory, missions, and in-game economy tools. REST and WebSocket APIs, along with direct database APIs, connect clients and backend services. The maker describes WebRTC-based matchmaking and peer-to-peer real-time multiplayer support. A CMS lets teams manage in-game content and create or test entities without deploying new code. Listed integrations include Unity, GameMaker, and Godot, and developers can extend server logic in Java, Kotlin, Scala, or another JVM-compatible language. Deployment options include local Docker, self-hosting in a cloud account, AWS Marketplace, and a managed cloud beta. The product uses a server-authoritative security model and is designed for self-hosting, which the maker says lets customers retain ownership of backend and player data. Community Edition is free under MPL 2.0 and self-hosted. Namazu Cloud is in closed beta, with a one-month free trial for accepted teams.