Foundry FAQ

What is Foundry?

Foundry is a platform for building and shipping live-service multiplayer games. It combines game distribution through the Foundry launcher, on-demand dedicated-server hosting on the Compute Grid, matchmaking, and player identity in one platform, so studios go from first build to live at scale without stitching together separate vendors.

What game engines does Foundry support?

Foundry provides an open-source SDK (Apache-2.0) for Unreal Engine 5 today. The SDK core is engine-agnostic C, so other engine bindings are planned. Integration is a plugin: drop it into your project, and it covers sign-in, matchmaking, and the dedicated-server lifecycle.

How does hosting dedicated servers on Foundry work?

You upload your dedicated-server build as a container image; when matchmaking forms a match, the Compute Grid allocates a running server for it in seconds on bare metal and hands each player the endpoint. Server builds need no content review and carry no hosting fee during early access (every upload still passes an automated security scan). Updates ship without re-review.

How does matchmaking work on Foundry?

Foundry matchmaking is queue-based with party support: you define queues for your game (with per-queue match sizes), the game submits tickets by queue name through the SDK, and parties are kept together. When a match forms, each player receives the allocated server's endpoint plus a short-lived signed match token that the server verifies before admitting them. Skill-based matching is on the roadmap.

How much does Foundry cost?

The Indie tier is free: publishing a game to the Foundry launcher takes a one-time $20 review per game, server hosting carries no fee during early access, and updates are free. Studio is $149/month (about 15% off billed annually) and waives the review fee while adding production-scale capacity; Enterprise pricing is by contract.

How do I publish a game on Foundry?

Register your game under your publisher handle, upload the client build for a security and content review, and go live on the Foundry launcher once approved. Server builds deploy to the Compute Grid without review, and updates to a published game ship without re-review.

How is Foundry different from Photon, Nakama, or PlayFab?

Foundry covers distribution, hosting, matchmaking, and identity in one platform, and it distributes your game to players through the Foundry launcher — which Photon, Nakama, and PlayFab do not. Photon focuses on real-time netcode, Nakama is a self-hostable open-source game server, and PlayFab is Microsoft's managed backend suite. See the full Foundry vs Photon, Nakama, and PlayFab comparison.

What platforms can I ship to with Foundry?

Players install games through the Foundry launcher on Windows today; dedicated servers run as Linux containers on the Compute Grid. Additional player platforms will follow the launcher.

Does Foundry handle security?

Every uploaded build passes an automated malware and vulnerability scan, client builds additionally get a content review before launch, launcher installs verify signed release manifests, and game servers only admit players carrying a short-lived signed match token. Runtime anti-cheat is on the roadmap.