In 2000, 4Players went live and while most people remember us as a bold, independent voice in gaming media, our foundation was always technological. We weren’t just reporting on games. We were already building tools to support them.
From 4Netplayers, our early game server hosting platform for players all around the world, to today’s ODIN Platform consisting of voice communication as well as a reliable B2B server hosting infrastructure, 4Players has always been a software company at heart.
To mark our 25th anniversary, we sat down with CEO Phillip Schuster to reflect on the company’s journey and how the mission has remained surprisingly consistent.
1. Phillip, let’s start at the beginning. What was the vision when 4Players launched in 2000?
At the core, we just wanted to serve gamers and game publishers and that’s never changed. What started with building websites and hosting LAN parties turned into 4Players.de, one of Germany’s most respected gaming news portals. But even then, we were already experimenting with infrastructure, hosting, and the backend. We were always a software company at heart.
2. The dot-com crash hit shortly after launch. What happened?
That was a shock. The ad market collapsed overnight. We had to act fast. But because of our early LAN party experiences and technical knowledge, we saw a new opportunity: online game server hosting. So we pivoted. We acquired TNX, built our own platform, and launched 4Netplayers: one of the first user-friendly server hosting services for gamers. At this point I also want to say “Thank you!” to the leadership team at freenet who fully trusted and financed our new mission back then.
3. So, in your view, what defines 4Players today?
We’re a technology partner for gamers, developers and publishers. We provide scalable, reliable backend infrastructure - from real-time voice comms to fleet server orchestration. Our goal is simple: make it easy to build, launch, and scale multiuser experiences.
4. ODIN Voice is one of our flagship products now. What is it and why did you build it?
ODIN Voice is a real-time voice chat SDK that lets developers embed high-quality, ultra-low-latency voice communication directly into games, apps, and virtual experiences. Unlike external tools like Discord or TeamSpeak, ODIN runs fully in-game, providing seamless and immersive communication. We built it because most developers either rely on external tools that break immersion or face the high cost and complexity of building their own voice systems. ODIN solves this by offering a scalable, affordable, and developer-friendly solution tailored for real-time interactive experiences. It’s built by developers, for developers.
5. What’s unique about building infrastructure for games compared to other industries?
Games are probably the most demanding medium there currently is. You need low latency, high reliability, and seamless UX. But it’s also deeply emotional. If a voice chat drops during a teamfight, it breaks immersion. If a server lags, it ruins the match. We take that personally.
6. In 2024, we launched ODIN Fleet. What’s the vision there?
Right. It’s basically your backbone for multiplayer games. Developers can get their backend live in days, not months. Matchmaking, autoscaling, deployment, all handled via a simple API. It is about simplifying server hosting for game studios. We provide a scalable infrastructure so studios can focus on building fun, not babysitting servers. With our Indie Flat, which runs at € 49,99/month for up to 500 concurrent users, and fair, predictable pricing for larger studios, we make professional-grade infrastructure accessible for everyone. Without any hidden costs, by the way.
7. Looking back, what’s been the biggest challenge of this transformation?
Changing perceptions. Internally and externally. We had to build credibility in a whole new space while honoring our roots. But our team embraced and is still embracing the challenge. They’re gamers and engineers, and I am sure that blend is our superpower.
8. What would you say has remained constant in 25 years?
Two things: our love of games, and our belief that great infrastructure is invisible. If players aren’t noticing your voice tech or your server that’s when it’s doing its job.
9. Looking back, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?
That your purpose should never change, but your business model probably will many times. We’ve had to reinvent ourselves over and over, but our core never moved. We still build for gamers. We still serve developers. We just got a lot better at doing it.
10. Finally, if you could tell the 2000 version of yourself one thing, what would it be?
Stay true to who you are. Trust yourself, trust the people around you, and stay curious. Oh, and never stop mining Bitcoins. ;)
🛠️ From Players to Builders
As we celebrate 25 years, we’re incredibly proud of how far we’ve come and deeply thankful to our partners, clients, and team members who helped shape 4Players into what it is today: a trusted tech company helping build the future of multiplayer gaming.
Here’s to the next 25!
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Team 4Players