Cloud bursting
Cloud bursting is when game server workloads automatically spill from reserved bare metal capacity into cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure) during demand spikes. When demand drops, cloud capacity is released.
Why it matters for game servers
Game traffic is spiky. Launch day, free weekends, seasonal events, and tournament finals can push concurrent players to 5-10x normal levels. Provisioning bare metal for peak demand wastes money 95% of the time. Provisioning only for average demand means players can’t connect during peaks.
Cloud bursting solves this by using reserved bare metal for the baseline and on-demand cloud for the peaks. The baseline runs at a lower reserved rate. The burst runs at a higher on-demand rate. You only pay the on-demand premium during actual spikes.
How it works in practice
When utilisation on reserved bare metal hits a threshold, the orchestration layer starts placing new sessions on cloud providers in the same region. The matchmaker doesn’t change. The API call doesn’t change. Players get the same IP-and-port response. The only difference is where the container runs.