On-Premises vs. Cloud Infrastructure Decision and Lock-in Risk

Definition

Game studios face critical infrastructure decisions without clear best practices. Cloud computing promises scalability and low upfront capital, but creates vendor lock-in and long-term cost uncertainty. On-premises infrastructure requires significant capital investment ($50K-$300K) but provides control. Small studios often choose cloud for financial flexibility, then face escalating AWS/Azure/GCP costs as player counts grow. Cloud cost optimization requires specialized expertise most indie studios lack. Database costs, bandwidth costs, and compute costs can easily exceed $10K-$50K/month at scale, creating unsustainable fixed costs. Conversely, on-premises infrastructure requires technical staff to manage, creating operational burden. Many studios end up with suboptimal infrastructure choices—either trapped on expensive cloud platforms, or managing creaky on-premises hardware. No simple solution exists for small studios; both paths carry significant financial and operational risks.

Why This Matters

Cloud architecture consulting for game studios, infrastructure cost optimization services, multi-cloud strategies, managed game server platforms (GameSparks, Gamesparks, Agones), FinOps consulting

Affected Stakeholders

Game Studio Owner, Creative Director

Related Business Risks