How Ubisoft Transformed Gaming with Kubernetes

When you think of Ubisoft, you probably think of iconic games like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, or Just Dance. But behind the scenes, Ubisoft is just as innovative in its technology as it is in its game development. As gaming evolves, so do the demands of delivering seamless experiences to millions of players worldwide. To meet these demands, Ubisoft turned to Kubernetes—and the results have been game-changing.

The Journey to Kubernetes

Ubisoft’s journey into the world of Kubernetes wasn’t an overnight decision. Like many enterprises, the company started with traditional infrastructure and gradually experimented with containers. Back in 2016, Ubisoft’s infrastructure team realized that a cloud-native, containerized approach could offer better agility and scalability.

Initially, different teams experimented with Docker, spinning up instances to containerize services. Encouraged by the results, developers across the company started embracing containerization. This organic growth eventually led to the formation of the Cloud Native Committee, a group dedicated to sharing Kubernetes best practices across Ubisoft.

By 2017, Kubernetes had gained industry-wide momentum, and Ubisoft decided to standardize on it. The result? The birth of the Ubisoft Kubernetes Service (UKS)—a unified platform designed to streamline the company’s cloud-native transformation.

The Role of Rancher in Ubisoft’s Kubernetes Journey

As Ubisoft scaled its Kubernetes adoption, it needed a solution that would simplify management across its hybrid cloud environments. After evaluating several options, Ubisoft chose Rancher in 2018 to serve as the backbone of UKS.

With Rancher, Ubisoft automated Kubernetes cluster provisioning, removing the manual burdens that slowed down development. This move significantly reduced the time it took for developers to gain access to clusters—from several days to just 10 minutes.

“We want to remove the manual burden associated with Kubernetes deployment—to give developers the freedom to experiment. Rancher brings predictability, consistency, and automation to the development process.” — Gregory Gstalder, Team Lead, Ubisoft

Kubernetes at Ubisoft: Real-World Impact

Kubernetes didn’t just make infrastructure management easier; it fundamentally transformed how Ubisoft builds and delivers gaming experiences.

Faster Cluster Deployment

Before Kubernetes, setting up a cluster could take days. With UKS and Rancher, developers can provision a cluster in minutes—an 80% reduction in deployment time.

Smarter Player Support

Ubisoft’s machine learning-based support tool, which helps resolve player issues, runs on UKS. This innovation alone has reduced support ticket resolution time by 20%, saving valuable time for both players and support teams.

Enabling Hybrid Cloud Flexibility

Ubisoft operates in both private and public cloud environments. With Kubernetes, developers can seamlessly build cloud-native microservices that work across both, ensuring better scalability and security.

What’s Next? The Future of UKS

UKS is now a well-established part of Ubisoft’s infrastructure, but the journey isn’t over. The next big challenge? Moving actual game workloads into UKS while maintaining zero downtime. Ubisoft currently runs over 200 Kubernetes clusters, and that number is set to grow. The team is now focusing on optimizing infrastructure usage, supporting multi-tenant clusters, and reducing operational overhead.

As Ubisoft continues to push boundaries in both gaming and technology, Kubernetes remains at the core of its innovation strategy. The lessons learned from UKS not only benefit Ubisoft but serve as a great example of how enterprises can successfully adopt Kubernetes to drive efficiency, scalability, and innovation.

Key Takeaways

• 80% reduction in cluster deployment time (from days to minutes).
• 20% faster support ticket resolution thanks to machine learning on UKS.
• Hybrid cloud flexibility enables seamless game service management.
• Ongoing goal: Move live gaming workloads into UKS while ensuring high availability.

Ubisoft’s story is proof that Kubernetes isn’t just for traditional IT—it’s shaping the future of gaming too. If you’re looking to scale your infrastructure like a AAA gaming studio, Kubernetes might just be the answer.