I don't really buy it. First of all you can easily have both. Second, even if you think community servers are an issue, the concepts of server rooms with the se

I don't really buy it. First of all you can easily have both. Second, even if you think community servers are an issue, the concepts of server rooms with the server being on the standard company platform is totally feasible. As for server uptime, if anything I think communities manage to provide excellent service and servers. Because the people running the infrastructure actually play with that infrastructure and know if something is wrong pretty quickly. As for player retention, I played Dota in the Warcraft 3 days and it was the most played game on the planet while having horrible matchmaking on a terrible server system. And players continue playing. And communities and particular matchup and games increase retention. I used to always play particular types of matches and rule-sets on servers I knew had a configuration and mod-set that I liked. One of the reason this doesn't exist anymore is part of the reason playing is less fun. And again, you can have ranked match making primary servers as well if you feel like it. > Most game companies choose the route of building and running dedicated server infrastructure. You can still have hosted rooms on dedicated infrastructure, or have both.