Migration Guide
If You're on Hathora, Your Matchmaker Should Choose Your Next Platform
Hathora shuts down May 5th, 2026. GameFabric has no matchmaker integrations. Gameye has four.
Provider-agnostic game server orchestration. Official Pragma Engine Capacity Provider. Native integrations with Nakama, PlayFab, and FlexMatch. $0.07/vCPU/hour, no egress fees, 99.99% SLA. Sandbox in 24 hours.
Kubernetes-based game server hosting built on Agones. Co-announced as Hathora's migration partner. No documented integrations with Pragma, Nakama, PlayFab, or FlexMatch. Custom pricing, consultation required.
The core issue: If your game uses a matchmaker — and most Hathora studios do — your migration choice is determined by which platform your matchmaker actually integrates with. For Pragma, Nakama, PlayFab, and FlexMatch studios, that platform is Gameye.
The Integration Gap That Changes Everything
Your game server platform doesn't run in isolation. It sits downstream of your matchmaker — the system that decides when a match is ready and tells the server platform to spin up a game. That handoff is the most latency-sensitive moment in your entire player experience. It's also the integration that breaks when you change platforms.
GameFabric's answer to matchmaker integration is a gRPC endpoint and a promise: "our engineers will work with you." That's a consulting engagement, not an integration. Gameye's answer is a list of named, documented, production-tested integrations:
| Matchmaker | Gameye | GameFabric |
|---|---|---|
| Pragma Engine | ✓ Official Capacity Provider plugin | ✗ Not supported |
| Nakama | ✓ Native integration | ✗ Not supported |
| PlayFab | ✓ Supported | ✗ Not supported |
| FlexMatch | ✓ Supported | ✗ Not supported |
| Custom / homebrew | ✓ Platform-agnostic | ⚠ gRPC endpoint only |
If your game uses any of these matchmakers today — and most Hathora studios do — Gameye is a drop-in. GameFabric is a rebuild.
The Pragma Case: An Official Plugin, Not a Workaround
Pragma Engine is the backend platform of choice for studios that want production-grade matchmaking, party formation, social systems, and live ops without building it all from scratch. If you're on Hathora with Pragma today, your stack works like this:
- Players queue for a match
- Pragma handles party formation and matchmaking logic
- Pragma's Gameye Capacity Provider plugin instructs Gameye to spin up a dedicated server
- Pragma sends the server IP and port to the players' clients
- Match starts
The Gameye integration lives inside Pragma's own codebase — it's not a third-party connector or a community hack. It's the official path. Pragma's documentation lists the game server platforms it supports natively:
- Amazon GameLift ✅
- Hathora ✅ (shutting down May 5th)
- Multiplay ✅
- Gameye ✅
- GameFabric ❌ (not listed)
The Nakama Case
Nakama is a popular open-source game backend for studios who want real-time multiplayer, social features, leaderboards, and matchmaking under one roof. Gameye's native Nakama integration means the full loop runs without custom glue code on your side. GameFabric has no Nakama integration — migrating means writing and maintaining that connection yourself.
The PlayFab and FlexMatch Cases
PlayFab and FlexMatch (AWS) between them power matchmaking for a significant portion of the live-service games market. Both are supported by Gameye out of the box. Both are absent from GameFabric's integration documentation. A gRPC endpoint is not an integration — an integration means documented workflows, tested connection paths, and support when something breaks.
Gameye at a Glance
Gameye vs. GameFabric: Direct Comparison
| Criteria | Gameye | Nitrado GameFabric |
|---|---|---|
| Pragma Engine integration | ✓ Official plugin | ✗ Not supported |
| Nakama integration | ✓ Native | ✗ Not supported |
| PlayFab / FlexMatch | ✓ Supported | ✗ Not supported |
| Vendor lock-in | None — provider-agnostic | Nitrado-centric infrastructure |
| Server start time | 0.5 seconds | "Seconds" (unspecified) |
| Pricing model | $0.07/vCPU/hr, no egress fees | Custom quotes, contact required |
| Uptime SLA | 99.99% | Not published |
| Onboarding | Sandbox in 24 hours | Demo + consultation required |
| Sessions at scale | 120M+ sessions, 1M peak CCU | 80+ games on platform |
Use Gameye If... / Use GameFabric If...
- Drop-in Pragma Engine compatibility
- Native Nakama, PlayFab, or FlexMatch integration
- $0.07/vCPU/hour — no egress fees
- Sub-second server spin-up times
- Provider-agnostic redundancy, no lock-in
- Sandbox access without a sales call
- No existing matchmaker integration to preserve
- A mature Kubernetes / Agones DevOps pipeline
- Resources to build a custom matchmaker connector
- Existing Nitrado infrastructure relationships
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Gameye a good migration target if I'm on Hathora with Pragma Engine?
Yes — and it's the only straightforward one. Gameye is an official Capacity Provider in Pragma Engine's own codebase. Migrating means updating your Capacity Provider config, not rebuilding your matchmaking architecture. GameFabric is not listed as a supported platform in Pragma's documentation.
Does GameFabric support Pragma, Nakama, PlayFab, or FlexMatch?
No. GameFabric does not have documented integrations with any of the four major matchmakers most Hathora studios use. Their documentation offers a gRPC endpoint for custom integrations — not a production-tested connector.
How quickly can I get a Gameye environment running?
Gameye provisions sandbox access within 24 hours of request. Onboarding follows five steps: Docker Hub account, organisation setup, image push, port config, first API call. If you're already on Pragma, the Capacity Provider plugin handles the allocation handoff automatically.
What does Gameye cost?
Gameye charges $0.07 per vCPU per hour with no egress fees. That's the whole bill — you can model it in a spreadsheet before speaking to anyone. GameFabric does not publish pricing and requires a sales conversation.
Will I be locked in to Gameye's infrastructure?
No. Gameye is provider-agnostic — your game servers run across a global network of bare metal and cloud providers. If one region has an outage, Gameye fails over automatically. Your server configuration belongs to you.
Get Started Before May 5th
Sandbox access in 24 hours.
Migration guide included.
You can have a test environment running, your image uploaded, your Pragma Capacity Provider configured, and your first session allocated before your next sprint ends.
Request your Gameye API key →