Multiplayer

Game Center supports real-time and turn-based multiplayer functionality. When you adopt Game Center’s full-featured UI, you can provide a familiar and consistent matchmaking experience. In particular, you can offer the built-in player picker view, which helps players find people for a match without leaving your game. The built-in picker view can list system-suggested contacts, Game Center friends, and players who have recently participated in non-auto-matched games.

Screenshot of the Game Center multiplayer lobby, featuring a game titled The Coast. The lobby shows each player slot in a rounded-rectangular card. Three slots are filled with named players; the fourth slot is unfilled. The leftmost card represents the current player. The other cards represent other players and each includes a button that lets the current player remove the player from the slot or add a new one. Buttons above the player cards support increasing or decreasing the total number of players. A button below the player cards is titled Invite and Start.

When you adopt Game Center multiplayer functionality, you can use the system-designed multiplayer UI or present the information within your custom UI. Although the Game Center multiplayer UI supports the ability to send invitations to a player’s contacts, GameKit doesn’t provide API that lets you offer this functionality in a custom multiplayer UI.

Provide an unambiguous button that lets players access the multiplayer lobby. If your game supports a multiplayer experience, clearly display this option in your game’s main menu screen. For best results, use the term “Multiplayer.”

Provide a rich preview image to customize a Messages-based invitation experience. If players can use Messages to invite other people to a match, supply an image that represents your game to help customize the experience. Create an image that measures 480x480 pt (960x960 px @2x), name it GKMessageImage.png, and add it to your game’s asset catalog.

An image that features a red lighthouse and an attached red and white building. A rocky coast and some water is visible at the bottom of the image and a blue sky, the sun, and a cloud appear behind and above the buildings.

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