How to Build a Real-Time Multiplayer Game with PHP, Unity3D, and Workerman

How to Build a Real-Time Multiplayer Game with PHP, Unity3D, and Workerman

As online gaming continues to grow in popularity, real-time competitive games are especially favored by players. To meet the demands of low latency and high concurrency, PHP can be effectively used on the backend in combination with Unity3D on the client side, and Workerman as the communication framework. This article will guide you through the complete process, from server setup to client-side integration.

Getting to Know Workerman: A Lightweight PHP Network Communication Engine

Workerman is a high-performance asynchronous networking framework written entirely in PHP. It supports multi-process architecture and is ideal for building long-lived connections like WebSockets. In this project, we'll use Workerman to build a WebSocket server that facilitates real-time communication between game clients and the server.

Setting Up the PHP WebSocket Game Server

First, install Workerman using Composer and initialize the server project:

composer create-project workerman/workerman my_game_server
cd my_game_server

Next, create a file named Server.php with the following content:

<?php
use Workerman\Worker;

require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

$worker = new Worker('websocket://0.0.0.0:8000');
$worker->count = 1;

$worker->onConnect = function($connection) {
    // Handle new connection
};

$worker->onMessage = function($connection, $data) {
    // Handle received messages
};

$worker->onClose = function($connection) {
    // Handle connection close
};

Worker::runAll();

This snippet sets up a WebSocket server on port 8000. You can modify the port or expand the logic as needed for your game.

Implementing WebSocket Communication in Unity3D

On the Unity3D side, use the WebSocketSharp plugin to manage WebSocket connections. Create a C# script like GameClient.cs with the following implementation:

using UnityEngine;
using WebSocketSharp;

public class GameClient : MonoBehaviour
{
    private WebSocket webSocket;

    void Start()
    {
        webSocket = new WebSocket("ws://your_server_ip:8000");
        webSocket.OnOpen += OnOpen;
        webSocket.OnMessage += OnMessage;
        webSocket.OnClose += OnClose;
        webSocket.Connect();
    }

    private void OnOpen(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
    {
        // Connection established
    }

    private void OnMessage(object sender, MessageEventArgs e)
    {
        // Message received
    }

    private void OnClose(object sender, CloseEventArgs e)
    {
        // Connection closed
    }

    void Update()
    {
        // Game logic updates
    }
}

This script connects the Unity client to the PHP WebSocket server and listens for real-time events.

Developing Basic Game Logic

The game server can assign a unique identifier to each new player connection and transmit it to the client. This identifier can be used to manage game state per player.

When two players are matched, the server handles the logic of comparing player actions, determining outcomes, and broadcasting results to both clients. All real-time interactions—such as position updates, attacks, or game events—can be handled through structured messages.

Conclusion

By combining PHP, Unity3D, and Workerman, developers can create scalable, real-time multiplayer games with responsive and interactive gameplay. This architecture is especially suited for small to mid-sized competitive games that rely on fast client-server communication and efficient backend processing.