Lobby Labs: The open-source game backend.

What you get

Multiplayer
READY
Player 2 has entered the game.
Rooms fill, split when they're crowded and sleep when they're empty. Matchmaking is built in.
Saves
READY
Every player's progress, on real Postgres.
Profiles, levels and inventory that survive crashes and updates. Export it whenever you want.
Player select
READY
One click to play.
No sign-up screen between a player and your game. They start as a guest, claim an account when they're hooked, and their progress follows them to every device.
Shop
WAITING
Run a shop, not a payments company.
Coins, items and a web store, with payouts straight to your account. Coming after launch.

How it works

From prompt to players in three steps.

Preview API, subject to change

Add Lobby to my game. Make it multiplayer with 4-player rooms, save each player's progress, and let players start as guests.

$ npx lobby init

lobby.ts · server

import { defineGame, data, room, clamp } from '@lobby/server';

export default defineGame({
  data: {
    progress: data.object({
      level: data.int({ default: 1 }),
      coins: data.int({ default: 0 }),
    }),
  },

  rooms: {
    arena: room({
      maxPlayers: 4,
      onJoin(ctx) {
        ctx.broadcast('joined', { id: ctx.player.id });
      },
      // Validate movement input: clamp to the map
      onMove(ctx, { x, y }) {
        return { x: clamp(x, 0, 800), y: clamp(y, 0, 600) };
      },
      onMessage: {
        // Only the server writes saves
        levelComplete(ctx, { level }) {
          const progress = ctx.player.data.progress;
          progress.level = Math.max(progress.level, level + 1);
          progress.coins += 10;
        },
      },
    }),
  },
});

game.js · client

import Phaser from 'phaser';
import { Lobby } from '@lobby/client';

const lobby = new Lobby({ key: 'pk_your_project_key' });

export class PlayScene extends Phaser.Scene {
  async create() {
    await lobby.connect(); // guest first, account later
    this.room = await lobby.rooms.join('arena');
    this.progress = await lobby.saves.get('progress'); // read-only
    this.room.on('player:update', (p) =>
      this.others.get(p.id)?.setPosition(p.x, p.y),
    );
  }

  update() {
    this.room.me.move({ x: this.player.x, y: this.player.y });
  }

  onLevelDone(level) {
    // Ask the server; it checks the level and awards coins
    this.room.send('levelComplete', { level });
  }
}

import * as THREE from 'three';
import { Lobby } from '@lobby/client';

const lobby = new Lobby({ key: 'pk_your_project_key' });
await lobby.connect(); // guest first, account later
const room = await lobby.rooms.join('arena');
const progress = await lobby.saves.get('progress'); // read-only

room.on('player:update', (p) =>
  others.get(p.id)?.position.set(p.x, p.y, 0),
);

renderer.setAnimationLoop(() => {
  room.me.move({ x: player.position.x, y: player.position.y });
  renderer.render(scene, camera);
});

function onLevelDone(level) {
  // Ask the server; it checks the level and awards coins
  room.send('levelComplete', { level });
}

$ npx lobby deploy
  checking lobby.ts
  ✓ data      progress
  ✓ rooms     arena (4 players)
  ✓ accounts  guest first
  deploying to Lobby Cloud
▶ READY · multiplayer · saves · accounts

Built for breakout

Room's full? Pip opens another.

Lobby grows and shrinks with your players. A quiet Tuesday and a packed launch weekend run the same way: rooms open as players arrive and close when they leave. Spend caps keep the bill where you set it.

Hosting

We run the backend. You ship the game anywhere.

Lobby Cloud
We run the servers. Rooms run close to your players, so movement feels instant, and sleep when nobody's playing. Spend caps and a live cost meter are on by default.
Your cloud, if you need it
For teams with data-residency or compliance requirements, Lobby can run in your own infrastructure. Same lobby.ts, same client.
Talk to us
Your game, anywhere
Ship on the web, itch.io, Steam or Discord. Lobby is the backend, not the store.

Build with us

We're building Lobby in public.

Follow along on GitHub, tell us what your game needs, and help shape the defaults.

github.com/lobby-labs

Drop your email and we'll let you know when your spot's ready.

Build the game.We'll handle the players.

What you get

Multiplayer

Saves

Player select

Shop

From prompt to players in three steps.

Room's full? Pip opens another.

We run the backend. You ship the game anywhere.

Lobby Cloud

Your cloud, if you need it

Your game, anywhere

We're building Lobby in public.

Lobby opens soon.