Boosts release velocity 400% with Google Kubernetes Engine
Enables one-second real-time flight tracking using Cloud Bigtable
Achieves 99.99% uptime for Jurassic World on Google Cloud
Cuts costs 30% to reinvest in AI with Google Kubernetes Engine autoscaling
Automates safety for user content with Vision AI
Orbx unifies data on Google Cloud to power real-time immersive simulations while cutting cloud spend by 30%.
Orbx unifies data on Google Cloud to power real-time immersive simulations while cutting cloud spend by 30%.
Removing the operational drag on high-fidelity innovation
Orbx produces high-fidelity simulated environments where users immerse themselves for hours, from piloting aircraft over Brisbane to walking among dinosaurs in Jurassic World: Archipelago. To deliver these complex experiences, the company relies on processing massive assets and real-time data. However, by early 2024, Orbx’s infrastructure made this task challenging because it was fractured across three different cloud providers and on-premises servers.
This distributed architecture created data silos that prevented cross-platform queries and reliable scaling for major game launches. The engineering team lost valuable production cycles maintaining connection code between disparate systems instead of developing new gameplay features. To support the massive scale required for Jurassic World and the precision of its flight tracking platform, Volanta, Orbx required a single source of truth.
Orbx launched a strategic review to find a consolidated platform. The company sought a provider that could eliminate operational overhead and offer the strongest vision for data and AI to future-proof its roadmap.
Our main challenge was a lack of a cohesive cloud strategy. Our multi-cloud approach created significant complexity and high operational overhead, which made it impossible to build a unified data platform. Bringing everything over to Google Cloud solved that.
Andrew Stevens
CTO, Orbx
Unifying data to scale real-time immersive worlds
Orbx engaged Google Cloud Partner Sakura Sky to re-architect its environment to be cloud-native, unifying the data strategy and automating infrastructure pipelines with Cloud Build. The new infrastructure allowed Orbx to deploy specific Google Cloud solutions to power its most demanding titles.
For example, for the Volanta flight tracking platform, Orbx uses Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) to handle massive elasticity. When thousands of players log in simultaneously, GKE automatically scales compute resources up to meet demand, then scales down during quiet periods to optimize costs.
Bigtable changed the way Volanta worked because it is designed to ingest massive amounts of data instantly. We were the first to market with per-second tracking. You cannot do that with a standard relational database.
Andrew Stevens
CTO, Orbx
Meanwhile, the team needs to process heavy write loads. Orbx implemented Bigtable to ingest massive streams of real-time positional data, while using Cloud SQL for player inventories and BigQuery to analyze flight costs.
This shift enabled Orbx to move from 10-second map updates to one-second precision tracking—a critical differentiator for a team dedicated to continually improving the user experience. On a similar note, Orbx uses Cloud Vision API to automatically screen user-generated screenshots for offensive content, protecting users and brands such as the much-loved Jurassic World without requiring a large manual moderation team.
Accelerating the delivery of high-fidelity worlds by 400%
Moving from irregular deployment windows to rapid, reliable updates, Orbx achieved a 400% increase in release velocity. Stability also improved, reaching 99.99% uptime—a critical metric for maintaining player trust in live-service games such as Jurassic World: Archipelago.
Beyond performance, the new cloud-native architecture reduced overall cloud spend by 30%. Orbx reinvested these savings directly into R&D to fund its "Phase 2" strategy focused on artificial intelligence.
The team is now using Gemini Enterprise to summarize workflows and is exploring Vertex AI to build coding agents that further boost developer productivity.
With a scalable data foundation now in place, Orbx has the freedom to focus entirely on building the most immersive, high-fidelity environments for explorers worldwide.
Reliability is trust, and now we can trust our infrastructure. We’ve hit 99.99% uptime without stretching our budget. Four nines is an amazing outcome that implies minutes of downtime a year, which protects global brands such as Jurassic World.
Andrew Stevens
CTO, Orbx
Orbx is a global leader in flight simulation and high-fidelity environment creation. From realistic landscapes to immersive game worlds such as Jurassic World: Archipelago, Orbx pushes the boundaries of digital realism for gamers and businesses alike.
Industries: Gaming, Media and Entertainment
Location: Australia
Products: Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Cloud Bigtable, BigQuery, Cloud SQL, Cloud Vision API, Cloud Storage, Pub/Sub, Cloud Build, Cloud Logging, Cloud Monitoring, Gemini Enterprise, Gemini Code Assist, Vertex AI
About Google Cloud partner — Sakura Sky
Sakura Sky is a global technology consultancy and Google Cloud partner specializing in cloud architecture, data, and security. It helps organizations modernize infrastructure and adopt cutting-edge cloud solutions.
