Lobby Servers

The lobby server is an application whose primary purpose is to enable players to meet and arrange games. It is typically located on a remote computer, and accessed over the Internet. Lobby servers often perform a variety of other functions such as hosting chat rooms, posting news and information, and selling merchandise.

To manage multiplayer games, a lobby server typically handles a variety of tasks, including:

• Managing the network addresses of the various game sessions and players.
• Launching a session by launching the associated game applications on the players' computers.
• Adding players to an ongoing session.
• Connecting the various computers in a session to the correct network addresses.
• Keeping track of changes in the session, such as players leaving the game or changes in the game's host.

The details of the lobby server application depend on what kind of services the vendor wants to offer. Microsoft® DirectPlay® does not specify how a lobby server should be implemented nor how it should communicate with its users' computers. However, lobby vendors must implement and distribute to their users a lobby client that is compatible with DirectPlay.