Big Changes to Queue Management — Windows Client Update v0.2.6
Earlier today we released an update for Simplay beta Windows client, v0.2.6, that introduces significant changes to how we handle login queues. We thought this was a good chance for us to share our thoughts on queue management — why it’s so important to us, and how the new system greatly improves it.
Servers Full?
Cloud PC service, like Simplay, typically stock up powerful servers and GPU slots for their users to use. Users are matched with available GPU slots when they wish to play, and these slots return to the availability pool once the user logs off. Simple enough so far, right?
The problem is that it’s unreasonable to stock up enough slots to serve the entire user-base all at once. It’s also really stupid — as gamers choose to play on different days and hours. It’s very rare to see a large percentage of registered users playing all at once, even during peak times. It’s also impossible to offer competitive pricing to gamers (Simplay offer gamers unlimited hours of gaming for $20 per month, or $10 during beta) unless the system is designed to only serve X% of registered users. We call this X figure the concurrent ratio.
So there’s a product decision to be made — what’s the sweet spot we should use as a design point for the entire system? What concurrent ratio would ensure 100% availability throughout most of the week, and offer reasonable wait times during peak hours?
Login Queues
Ok, so Cloud PC services only have a finite amount of GPU slots to offer its users. Got it. Well, that means that sooner or later a user would request a GPU slot when there are none available. And it’s for that reason that queue management is a paramount component of any Cloud PC service.
But we decided to take one step further, and treat queues as a really big issue. We figured that if we could design a good system to handle waiting times, we could reduce the concurrent ratio we use as a design point. Why is that interesting to you guys? Because that would allow us offer to continue offering our monthly plans at such low rates!
What qualified as a good queue system?
So what qualified as a good queue system? What characterises good queue management?
Well, for one — it should ensure people spend the least amount of time possible waiting to be served. That’s a no-brainer.
Next, it should let the user know what’s the estimated wait time. At the very least, it should inform him how many people are due to be served before his turn is up.
Lastly, it should make the wait suck less. Theme park places TV monitors in long queue lines to make the waiting more bareable, which is nice. But call centres are even better at this — they let you hang up the phone and they call you back.
This last point really peaked our interest. Because if you’re not forced to sit and wait in queue — the wait is not so bad! In fact, you’ll hardly feel as if you’re waiting in line for anything, because you could just do whatever you want until your PC is ready. Ok, so how could we build such a feature for Simplay?
Login Queue Reached, Your Cloud PC is ready!
We started out with notifying our users their PCs are ready via email, but emails are an unreliable means of communication. And indeed, many of our users shared that they didn’t even notice they got notification emails from us.
But opportunity presented itself from somewhere else. We recently added phone verification to our sign-up process, mainly due to an unreasonable amount of fake (ab)users. So we thought — hey, what would be better than notifying our users the wait is over than to text it to their mobile? While some users might find this intrusive (we allow users to opt out, of course), this is the most convenient way to relay the message. And because they’ll be properly notified when everything’s ready, they could now spend the queue time doing other stuff.
And that’s what we’re introducing today — a super charged queue management system that notifies you by text when the wait is over. It also fires up your Cloud PC so it’s ready to go as soon as you are. We’re totally geeking out about it, and we hope you’ll dig it too.
What’s next?
We’re really happy with the improvement we were able to achieve with the new system — queue times are reduced, and the process flows more smoothly.
We plan on evaluating how this new system performs as we go along, tweaking and adjusting it when necessary. We’d also like to introduce the option to reserve a GPU slot in advance — for cases where you know you plan on starting a gaming session on Friday at 21:00. As we mentioned earlier — queue management is a really big issue for us, and we’ll keep trying to improve your experience waiting in queues.
Haven’t tried out Simplay’s Cloud Gaming PC yet? Head on over to www.simplay.io and sign up for a free 24-hours trial!
