When GameSpy closed in 2014, the originals' online play went with it. GOG and Steam brought it back through rooms hosted by players, where players report 150 to 300 ms on every server. Eternal starts over: dedicated servers, 64 players, a 60 Hz battle, and netcode written for real connections.
What the GOG and Steam versions of the originals give you online today, as their store pages, the press and their players document it, next to what Eternal does.
2004
Both games' internet play ran on GameSpy's servers.
2014
Online play goes dark for both games.
2017
2020
2022
A player reports nearly every server over 200 ms, with one or two people on it. [4]
2024
2026
Dedicated servers anyone can run, 64 players, 60 Hz, and a ping set by your distance to the server.
Eternal measured in our own tests. GOG and Steam as players report it on the forums, 2017 to 2022.
| Connection | Ping | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Eternal: Alabama to Atlanta | 18 ms | Measured, median of 12 sessions |
| Eternal: Frankfurt to Atlanta | about 100 ms | Measured in the 64-client test |
| GOG and Steam, as players report it | 150 to 300+ ms | Every server, 2017 to 2022 |
| GOG and Steam versions | Battlefront Eternal | |
|---|---|---|
| Players per battle | Up to 32 (the 2004 game's store pages) | Up to 64, with bots filling every empty slot |
| Who hosts the battle | Players, often on home connections, found through GOG Galaxy | A dedicated server in a datacenter, or the desktop app on your own PC |
| Ping players report | 150 to 300 ms and more, on every server (2017 to 2022) | Your distance to the server: 18 ms from Alabama to Atlanta, about 100 ms from Frankfurt |
| Joining | Failed joins and overloaded matchmaking at the 2017 relaunch | Direct connections, NAT punch-through, and a relay when nothing else gets through |
| Finding a game | Galaxy's room list | A server browser with your measured ping, the map, the mode and who runs it |
Your PC never waits on the server to feel responsive, and the server never takes your PC's word for what happened.
Your PC
Your PC predicts it at once. Your soldier moves, aims and shoots without waiting for the server.
Up
Thirty times a second, in packets small enough for a weak upload.
Server
It runs the battle at 60 Hz and judges each shot against where targets were on your screen.
Down
Thirty times a second, with only what changed, nearest and most important first.
Your PC
Other players move smoothly between snapshots, and small corrections to yours blend away instead of snapping.
Every piece is new, from the handshake to the last pixel of a remote player's movement.
A new multiplayer engine with its own encrypted UDP transport, BFE-UDP/1.
The server runs every battle at 60 Hz and decides every hit, capture and kill. Clients send inputs, not results.
Your soldier, droidekas, vehicles and starfighters respond at once. Your PC replays what the server hasn't confirmed yet, then blends small corrections away.
Shots are judged against where targets were on your screen, never further back than your own connection justifies, and never more than 0.6 s.
Only what changed since the last snapshot you confirmed, nearest and most important first, within a budget for each player.
A lost snapshot is never resent or waited on. With 5% loss in testing, snapshots still arrived at the link's own latency.
X25519 key exchange, AES-256-GCM, and Ed25519 identities on both ends. Forged, tampered or replayed packets are dropped.
A join starts from six ports at once, then times sixteen and moves to the fastest route through your ISP: 6 ms quicker on average in testing.
Switch from Wi-Fi to LTE and the session follows you in one round trip, without rejoining.
Direct connections where possible, NAT hole punching through the master server, and a relay when nothing else gets through. IPv4 and IPv6.
Packets never wait on the game. In testing, round trips fell by 1.15 ms and the worst state delay by about 30%.
Instant Action runs as a local server on the same netcode as online play, so both behave the same.
Input floods are dropped, never kicked. One network holds eight sessions by default, and servers can apply a signed ban list.
Client and server compare versions as they connect. An outdated client is told to update instead of falling out of sync.
Load tests run real clients over the internet against real servers, with the same code players run.
October 16, 2026
One Linode server in Atlanta and 64 clients in Atlanta, Newark, Washington, Chicago, Dallas, Fremont and Frankfurt, 32 against 32 on Naboo: Theed. The server held 60 ticks a second with no dropped ticks and no client errors.
October 16, 2026
Shaped links with 200 kbit/s upload, 60 ms delay each way and 5% packet loss. Snapshots still arrived in a median 63 ms, the link's own latency.
October 17, 2026
A full load test on Planet Lightwave from Linode, half over IPv4 and half over IPv6. The fixes it called for shipped the same day, and the rerun held 60 ticks a second with no packets dropped.
No. Every battle runs on a server: a dedicated server, or the one the desktop app hosts. Players connect to it, never to each other.
Since GameSpy closed in 2014, the GOG and Steam versions have found games through GOG Galaxy, and battles are hosted by players, often on home connections. Everyone's ping depends on that host, and players report 150 to 300 ms and more. Eternal is built around dedicated servers in datacenters, so your ping is your distance to the server.
No. Players connect out. Only a server's host opens UDP and TCP 18451, or 18461 when hosting from the app, or lets a relay carry the traffic.
A lost snapshot isn't resent, on purpose: a newer one is already on the way. Your PC keeps drawing other players smoothly between the snapshots it gets, and your own soldier keeps responding at once.
A client sends only its inputs. The server simulates the movement and rules on every hit, so a modified game can't declare its own kills or move itself across the map.
On the original games online, checked October 22, 2026. Player reports are quoted from public forum threads and describe those players' experience at the time.
