Titanfall 2 multiplayer will use Azure, Google and Amazon clouds, and "bare metal" servers

In the first of the Titanfall 2 “Inside Development” videos (technically the second, but last week's was just an introduction to the series, so it doesn't really count), Lead Engineer Jon “Slothy” Shiring discusses how the game's multiplayer servers will work. The short version is that using Microsoft's Azure servers for the original Titanfall worked out really well, “so we're going to keep doing that.” 

But EA is expanding beyond just Azure to take advantage of other services including Google and Amazon clouds, and “bare metal boxes” in data centers around the world. 

“We've been working with this company called Multiplay, and they've been in the server hosting business a really long time. Their expertise has been really useful to us for learning about all these different ways of running servers," Shiring says. "We've been working with them to build a system so that we can use both bare metal and multiple clouds together. You'll see more of that during tech tests, and obviously during launch.” 

Shiring emphasized the importance of pre-launch multiplayer testing, and invited people to hammer the servers as hard as they can during playtests. “Please come and destroy all of our hard work,” he says. “Play the tech test, take our servers down, let us learn from it and get ready for launch.” 

A more detailed breakdown of how Titanfall 2's server structure will work can be found on the Titanfall blog. Titanfall 2 is scheduled for release on October 28.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.