AI boom: now it's hitting the game servers

Kevin Hofer

8.4.2026

Translation: machine translated

The AI boom is not limited to graphics cards and hard drives. "Stormgate's" multiplayer servers went offline at the end of April because an AI company took over the responsible supplier. An isolated incident? Hardly - the problem is deeper than it seems.

First it was crypto mining that turned the graphics card market on its head, followed by the AI boom with shortages of GPUs, RAM and SSDs. And now? Now the growing hunger for AI infrastructure is penetrating the server structures that keep modern online games running. «Stormgate» is the first prominent victim. It will not be the last.

The AI hunger is eating up the game servers

«Stormgate» is a free-to-play RTS in the style of «StarCraft», developed by Frost Giant Studios - a team of former Blizzard developers. The game does not use its own servers, but relies on an external supplier to coordinate the game servers. Put simply, a third-party provider ensures that players can compete against each other at all.

This supplier was Hathora - until Fireworks AI took it over. Fireworks AI markets itself as a platform for AI inference, i.e. an infrastructure that executes trained AI models in real time. This requires computing capacity. And Fireworks AI is now getting this from Hathora's gaming infrastructure.

The result: Frost Giant informed players on Discord that the multiplayer mode of «Stormgate» will go offline at the end of April. A patch should at least secure the offline mode. Whether and when the online mode will return remains unclear - the studio is still looking for a new partner.

Not only «Stormgate»: A structural problem

Hathora also manages other games, including «Splitgate 2». According to GamesBeat, the company is planning to discontinue its entire gaming business and pass on its customers to another supplier, Nitrado. «Stormgate» is therefore hardly the only title affected.

This reveals a fundamental problem of modern gaming architecture: those who outsource their server infrastructure relinquish control - and are suddenly left empty-handed when the supplier changes business segment. In this case, AI infrastructure was lucrative enough to push a platform specialising in gaming completely out of the market.

What does this mean for you?

Of course, «Stormgate» is a niche title with a manageable player base and recently mostly negative Steam reviews. But the principle goes far beyond this one game. Online multiplayer now runs almost everywhere via outsourced servers - with advantages such as centralised matchmaking, anti-cheat and live service features. But also with a crucial dependency.

For many players, the AI boom is no longer an abstract economic issue. It is driving up the prices of GPUs, RAM and SSDs. And now it is showing that it can also directly jeopardise the playability of titles - without warning, without a say, just because a takeover has taken place somewhere.

Kevin Hofer

Senior Editor

kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.ch

From big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.

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