Rockbite Games: What we didn’t know about live ops until we released a hit

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Avetis Zakharyan and Gevorg Kopalyan are both founders of Rockbite Games

Before partnering with a publisher, we were already running events, but we saw them as something separate from the core game. Over time, it became clear that live ops isn’t just a parallel process – it’s a repeatable, scalable tool that needs constant refinement, not just to boost monetisation, but to keep players deeply engaged.

To truly move the needle, you need to act on the fly and focus on variety, timing, balance, economics, and content. It sounds a bit like reinventing the wheel, but without external expertise, the connection between these elements wasn’t as obvious. And we realised something else too: without audience segmentation, moving forward would be an uphill battle.

We wouldn’t have reached this point without Idle Outpost, which became the most profitable game in its niche. Before that, we had other projects and attempts – enough to fill a long read about how we spent years working independently before partnering with the publisher and finally making it to the top charts.

At some point, managing events manually just became unsustainable. That’s when we decided to create an in-house solution. During development, we discovered that the system could offer way more than we had initially imagined.

The gist

Before the system, every event launched simultaneously for all players, regardless of their time zone. This caused a ton of problems. Some players found it inconvenient, while others exploited leaderboards by starting events earlier than everyone else.  

The second major issue? Nearly everything ran on the client side, which meant bugs – lots of them. Events wouldn’t start, would launch late, or sometimes failed to deliver rewards entirely. Fixing these issues quickly was impossible, and our support team was overwhelmed with complaints. At one point, we resorted to manually compensating players purely based on their claims.  

Now, the new system divides players into four main time zones: Asia, America, and two European regions. As our player base grows, we plan to add more zones. This way, events feel synchronised and localised. Players in the same region see events at the same time, interact in chats in common languages, and receive timely event messages and rewards.

However, managing this level of complexity requires real-time oversight. If an event launches late in one zone or fails in another, it needs to be addressed immediately. At any given moment, we’re running dozens of events across all servers, processing tens of thousands of requests per second. Thanks to automation and semi-automation, everything stays under control.

It feels like a true mission control centre. We even installed four huge TV screens to track everything in real-time, and it’s completely changed how we run events, adapt them for different regions, and engage with players. 

The system also lets us monitor event chats live, and we’ve added AI-powered moderation to keep things civil. The AI can flag offensive language and ban repeat offenders instantly.  

At its core, the system is a powerful admin panel where we can schedule events and configure their settings. What’s remarkable is how lean the team can be.

Right now, seven developers are maintaining it since it’s still new, but eventually, it will only need one developer, a system administrator, and an analyst. However, getting to this point wasn’t easy – we needed skilled developers to build and integrate dozens of microservices that work seamlessly together.

Could we have managed live ops without this system? Sure – but it would’ve required an army of managers scattered across multiple time zones.

Each person would have to juggle dozens of processes simultaneously, with zero room for error. And every single action sets off a chain reaction: a new hub gets created, buckets are assigned, participant chats are opened, configurations are set, rewards are generated, and the list goes on.

System perks we didn’t see coming

We expected the system to solve obvious problems, but it’s also unlocked opportunities we didn’t anticipate.  

For example, we initially added a chat feature to showcase player achievements, like notifications when someone hit a new level. Then we thought: why not let players interact, send emojis, and cheer each other on?  

The chat stays connected via sockets, which means the client no longer has to ping the server every ten or sixty seconds to check for updates. Instead, the server pushes notifications directly, like “You’ve got mail” or “A new event just started.”  

Another game-changer is the ability to put things on pause in real-time. If something goes wrong, we can broadcast a message to all players, pause gameplay, and send compensation – like “Sorry, we had some issues. Here are 10 gems as an apology.” We even track who claims the rewards and how many players engage.  

The chat, however, introduced its own challenges. Initially, we displayed every single item players earned, which quickly turned into spam. To fix this, we only highlighted legendary items, but that left the chat empty early in the game.

Now, we’ve struck a balance: the system announces key milestones, like when a player receives a common item first, or the first ten players on a server earn a certain item, creating a steady stream of updates that keep the chat lively.  

These updates open the door to new layers of engagement. For instance, we can highlight the first player on a server to earn a rare item, adding a competitive edge and new opportunities to boost retention.  

This way, players can see each other’s progress unfold right from the start – from earning simple items to unlocking legendary ones – creating a shared sense of achievement and momentum.

Building on this, we can introduce an additional layer of milestones, like tracking and showcasing the first player on a server to earn a rare item. This opens the door to a new wave of hypotheses and experiments aimed at boosting engagement and retention.

Analytics

The biggest win has been analytics. The system constantly tracks data on performance metrics, balance setups, and player preferences. It doesn’t just show us what’s working – it highlights where we can improve.

Back when we only had one server, using analytics to test ideas quickly just wasn’t an option. Everyone in the same group had to share the exact same experience to keep things fair – especially for players competing against each other.

But now, we can experiment freely with multiple servers and segmented player groups. Whether it’s tweaking the balance or trying out new ideas, we’re finally able to fine-tune the experience and figure out what works best for our players.

At one point, we experimented with making an event shorter, cranking up the difficulty of the quests, and sweetening the rewards. The result? Player engagement doubled. We’d always known these kinds of experiments were important, but without the right tools, we couldn’t act on them quickly. Now, with the live ops system in place, tweaking configurations across different servers is a breeze.

For example, we recently adjusted the balance of difficulty and rewards for an event across different regions, which resulted in a 15% boost in LTV. It might not sound earth-shattering, but for us, it marked the start of something much bigger.

The system has really shone a light on how much we still need to refine our balance and in-game economy. It’s all about keeping players excited – timing the right rewards at the right moments to keep them engaged without burning out.

For instance, we noticed that during rush events, some of the skins we offered weren’t exciting enough, which caused interest to drop. Small adjustments like these make all the difference.

Breaking the audience into segments has also given us clarity on what works. We can now see which events players skip and which ones they genuinely enjoy.

Who needs it, and why not use a pre-made solution?

Building this system took over four months of development. If we’d outsourced it, the cost would have been astronomical – easily upwards of $2 million. The system itself doesn’t directly grow the project; it only pinpoints weaknesses and reveals areas that are ripe for improvement.

I look at the market and notice that every large company eventually comes up with its own management system. So, why not use an off-the-shelf solution? It’s a fair question.

We considered it carefully, but no pre-made system could offer the flexibility we needed. Yes, building our own was a big investment, but it wasn’t just for one project. This system is designed to support every game we develop in the future. 

Here’s what it comes down to: the big players in the market have their own live ops systems, while smaller studios often don’t. And without one, it’s tough to manage things like running events in different regions, testing monetisation strategies, or handling operations efficiently.

Having a dedicated system gives you a huge edge – it lets you make uplifts, stay competitive, and go toe-to-toe with other major companies that have similar setups. But there’s a flip side.

For smaller studios that don’t have a strong revenue stream yet, building a system like this isn’t realistic. If your game isn’t already earning well, a system alone isn’t going to turn things around.

So, the first step to building a system like this hasn’t changed: you’ve got to make a great game and make it a success. We’ve been through it ourselves – many attempts and plenty of lessons learned.

We already told the story on Pocket Gamer about our journey – from working independently for years to finally partnering with AppQuantum and breaking into the top charts.

Now, with a solid financial safety net, we’re in a position to invest in expensive in-house tools like this.