Getting Started
Photon is the foundation and infrastructure to develop and run real-time multiplayer at global scale. This page shows the fastest path to running your first match; for help choosing the right Photon product and topology for your game, see Photon Products.
Photon has been independently innovating real‑time multiplayer tech for three product generations – from the original Photon Realtime released in 2009 to today’s Fusion and Quantum. Photon now runs the world’s largest purpose‑built multiplayer cloud, powering thousands of live titles and ~1.4 billion players every month.
Your First Match in 10 Minutes
Three steps stand between you and your first networked session: create an app, grab an SDK, and run a sample.
Create Your Photon Account and First App
- Create a free Photon account.
- In the dashboard, create a new Application. The new application is for development and for up to 20 CCU (= concurrent users)
- Copy the generated App ID. You will paste this later.
- Develop as long as you need free.
- Go live with 100 CCU with Fusion or Quantum free (games only).
- Subscribe to more CCU anytime — upgrades are instant.
Your App ID is the link between your game client and your app in the Photon Cloud.
You don’t need to set up or maintain any servers; your game will automatically run on our global infrastructure with 15+ regions, auto-scaling, and built-in DDoS protection.
Download the SDK
Once you know which SDK you’ll use:
- Go to the Photon SDK download page.
- Download the SDK that matches your engine and platform (e.g., Fusion for Unity, Quantum for Unity, Realtime for .NET, C++, JavaScript, etc.).
- Import or install the package into your project as described in the SDK’s setup guide.
All Photon SDKs include:
- Example projects and sample scenes
- Integration details for engines like Unity, Unreal, and several native platforms
Open a Quick-Start Sample
The fastest way to see Photon in action is to run a built-in sample:
- Open one of the Quick-Start or Starter projects included with the SDK (for example, Fusion Starter, Fusion Simple FPS or Quantum Asteroids).
- Locate the App ID setting in the sample (usually in a Photon or Network settings script / asset).
- Paste in the App ID you created in the dashboard.
- Press Play in your engine (e.g. Unity) to start the game.
- Run a second instance or build & run to connect multiple players.
Next Steps
From here, dive into the documentation of the product you picked — or browse the samples to see what a finished Photon game looks like.
