Topic 15 · Live services
Other backend providers: PlayFab, Firebase, Epic Online Services, Nakama
What each non-Unity backend covers, how it reaches a Unity project, and the checks before choosing one over UGS.
A live-service backend holds what must outlive one play session: accounts, saved data, leaderboards, economy, remote configuration and analytics. Unity's own set is covered in Unity Gaming Services ops, and Unity's multiplayer connection services in Unity Multiplayer Services. This page covers the main alternatives. Versions are the latest GitHub release tags, read 15 Oct 2026.
| Provider | What it covers (from its own docs) | Unity SDK, version (date) | Hosting |
|---|---|---|---|
| PlayFab (Microsoft) | "A complete backend platform for games": authentication, multiplayer servers, chat, LiveOps segments and A/B tests, leaderboards, economy and payments, CloudScript and Azure Functions (What is PlayFab?) | PlayFab UnitySDK 2.244.260922 (23 Sep 2026) | Managed by Microsoft on Azure |
| Firebase (Google) | Analytics, Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Realtime Database, Cloud Functions, Cloud Storage, Remote Config, Crashlytics, Cloud Messaging, App Check and others; Dynamic Links is listed as deprecated (Add Firebase to your Unity project) | Firebase Unity SDK v14.0.0 (15 Oct 2026) | Managed by Google |
| Epic Online Services (EOS) | "Free, cross-platform services for multiplayer games": accounts and social features, multiplayer, player and game data, trust and safety (EOS) | EOS C# SDK from the Epic developer portal (version not read) | Managed by Epic |
| Nakama (Heroic Labs) | Open-source server for user accounts, friends, groups, chat, notifications, leaderboards, matchmaker and real-time multiplayer, with server runtime code (About Nakama) | nakama-unity v3.22.1 (2 Oct 2026); server v3.41.0 (18 Sep 2026) | Self-hosted or Heroic Cloud |
Firebase on desktop
Firebase's Unity setup page states that desktop support is a beta feature "intended only for workflows during the development of your game, not for publicly shipping code". The setup page lists iOS, tvOS and Android as the supported shipping targets (Add Firebase to your Unity project). Do not plan a Windows, macOS or Linux release on Firebase without checking that page again.
Rules
- BACKEND-CHOSEN-BY-NEED — list the services the game needs first, then pick the provider that covers them on every target platform. Check: the project records a table of needed services (accounts, save data, leaderboards, economy, remote config, analytics, multiplayer) and the provider and platform for each.
- ONE-SOURCE-OF-TRUTH-PER-RECORD — each kind of player data has one owning backend. Two providers holding the same save or currency drift apart. Check: the data table names exactly one owner for each record type; any copy elsewhere is marked as a cache.
- BACKEND-VERSION-RECORDED — record the SDK version and the date its docs were read. Backend SDKs change fast (the Firebase Unity SDK above was released the day this page was written). Check: the project's dependency notes list the provider SDK version and docs date.
- CLIENT-IS-NOT-TRUSTED-ON-ANY-BACKEND — rewards, currency and results are granted by server-side logic, whatever the provider. The same rule for UGS is CLOUDCODE-CLIENT-POINTER on Unity Gaming Services ops. Check: no client call writes a balance or a result directly; each goes through the provider's server-side functions or rules.
Verify an integration
- Install the provider's Unity SDK from its official source and record the version.
- Sign in a test player from a development build and log the returned player id.
- Write and read one record back from a second device or a clean install.
- Try the cheat: call the write path from a client with a forged value and confirm the backend rejects it.
- Confirm the configuration files or keys in the project are the non-secret client identifiers the provider documents, and that no server key is in the build.