How Multiplayer Games Do It | 6-Part Series
How do games make bullets register, hide your ping, and scale to 100 players? We break it all down in a 6-part series covering Valorant, CS2, PUBG, and Apex.
Series Overview: How Multiplayer Games Do It
A 6-part series breaking down how your favourite games like Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, and Apex Legends handle lag, hits, 100-player lobbies, and matchmaking.
Episodes
🎮 Episodes 1 & 2 are live. The rest are dropping very soon.
| # | Episode | What You'll Learn |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tick Rate | Server update frequency, tick vs frame rate, performance tradeoffs |
| 2 | Client-Side Prediction | Prediction, reconciliation, rollback, why movement feels instant |
| 3 | Hiding Lag 🔓 Coming Soon | Interpolation, smoothing, "shot around the corner" problem |
| 4 | Hit Registration 🔓 Coming Soon | Favor-the-shooter, hitscan vs projectile, server rewinding |
| 5 | 100+ Players 🔓 Coming Soon | Area of Interest, scalable architecture, battle royale networking |
| 6 | Fair Matchmaking 🔓 Coming Soon | MMR, ELO, queue time vs match quality, smurf detection |
Episode Details
⚡ Episode 1: How Multiplayer Games Handle Tick Rate
Tick rate fundamentals, server update frequency, tick rate vs frame rate, and performance implications.
Games discussed: Counter-Strike, Valorant, PUBG, Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch, EVE Online
⚡ Episode 2: How Multiplayer Games Do Client-Side Prediction
Client-side prediction, server reconciliation, mispredictions, rollback, and why movement feels instant.
Games discussed: Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends, Street Fighter 6, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, Apex Legends, Valorant, Dota, Guilty Gear
⚡ Episode 3: How Multiplayer Games Hide Lag — 🔓 Coming Soon
Lag compensation, interpolation, smoothing, and the "shot around the corner" problem.
Games discussed: Valorant, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike 2, Doom, Quake, CS:GO, Apex Legends
⚡ Episode 4: How Multiplayer Games Handle Hit Registration — 🔓 Coming Soon
Favor-the-shooter, hitscan vs projectile, hitboxes, server rewinding, and "I shot first" moments.
⚡ Episode 5: How Multiplayer Games Handle 100+ Players — 🔓 Coming Soon
Area of Interest, scalable server architecture, data prioritization, and battle royale networking.
⚡ Episode 6: How Multiplayer Games Match You Fairly — 🔓 Coming Soon
MMR, ELO, matchmaking algorithms, queue time vs match quality, smurf detection, and ranking systems.
Who Made This
We're game developers who got tired of surface-level explanations. This series is us breaking down how multiplayer actually works—the same stuff we deal with when building games.
So your Reddit rants can finally be accurate.