Customer Introduction
Aiming stands as a cornerstone of the Japanese gaming industry, recognized for its history of technological "firsts" and its mastery of the online gaming landscape. The company played a foundational role in the evolution of the Japanese market by producing REDSTONE—the nation’s first successful free-to-play MMORPG—and later pioneering the card-based social game genre. This streak of innovation has continued into the mobile era with high-profile successes such as Logres of Swords and Sorcery, CARAVAN STORIES, and the top-tier title DRAGON QUEST TACT.
The company’s primary competitive advantage is its "developer-first" leadership. This deep technical DNA allows the company to navigate complex transitions across home consoles, PC MMORPGs, and smartphone platforms with ease.
Beyond its technical achievements, Aiming is committed to a culture of growth. As the global game market continues its rapid expansion, Aiming is more focused on establishing a worldwide reputation for excellence—creating games that are not only successful but are recognized by industry peers and players alike as the gold standard of game design.
Challenges & Goals
As the smartphone industry experienced a growth plateau, Aiming faced a widening discrepancy between rising server infrastructure costs and fluctuating sales revenue. The primary challenge shifted toward aggressive cost control and operational efficiency without compromising the high-performance standards required for their gaming titles. Aiming sought a solution that offered a superior balance between cost-effectiveness and technical performance. Meanwhile, Aiming's goal was to transition to a comprehensive, all-in-one cloud ecosystem that could streamline their operations, reduce financial overhead, and provide the specialized tools necessary to support their diverse development needs.
Why Tencent Cloud
Superior Cost-Effectiveness Validated Through Rigorous Testing
Following comprehensive product evaluation and load testing, Aiming’s team found that Tencent Cloud delivered significantly better cost-effectiveness compared to alternative providers. In particular, simple load testing of the sharding functionality revealed that costs were reduced by approximately half compared to other similar products—a compelling margin that directly addressed Aiming’s primary cost pressure challenge.
Cloud-Native Sharding Solutions Replacing Custom Infrastructure
Tencent Cloud’s infrastructure-layer sharding capabilities provided a ready-made, enterprise-grade alternative to Aiming’s custom application-layer implementation. By migrating sharding logic from the application tier to the cloud database tier, Aiming was able to reduce development complexity, minimize maintenance overhead, and improve overall system reliability—while simultaneously achieving substantial cost savings.
Comprehensive Service Suite Meeting All Operational Needs
Cost-effectiveness alone was not the deciding factor. Aiming emphasized that Tencent Cloud provides a comprehensive suite of services that meet all operational needs, which was equally crucial in the selection process. Rather than cobbling together services from multiple vendors, Aiming found a single-provider solution capable of supporting the full spectrum of their game infrastructure requirements.
Exceptional Technical Support and Agile Development
Aiming rated Tencent Cloud’s support team as superior to that of other cloud service providers. What set Tencent Cloud apart was its responsiveness and willingness to develop custom solutions. This level of agility and customer-centric development demonstrated a firm partnership mindset.
Highlighted Benefits
1. Approximately 50% Cost Reduction in Database Operations
Through Tencent Cloud’s sharding solution, Aiming achieved approximately 50% cost savings on database operations compared to competing products. This dramatic reduction directly alleviated the margin pressure caused by the mismatch between rising server costs and plateauing revenue.
2. Enhanced Development Efficiency and Smoother Operations
By offloading sharding functionality from the application layer to Tencent Cloud’s infrastructure layer, Aiming’s engineering teams could redirect their focus from infrastructure maintenance to game development and innovation. The result was a measurably smoother operational system with reduced technical debt and faster iteration cycles.
3. Dual Achievement: Technical Excellence and Cost Optimization
As highlighted by Aiming’s Deputy General Manager, the partnership with Tencent Cloud enabled the company to address significant technical challenges while simultaneously achieving substantial cost reductions. This dual outcome validated the strategic decision to migrate and positioned Aiming for sustainable growth in a cost-conscious market environment.
4. A Partnership Built for the Future
The relationship between Aiming and Tencent Cloud has evolved beyond a standard vendor-client engagement into a strategic partnership characterized by responsive support, custom feature development, and shared commitment to operational excellence. With Tencent Cloud’s agile development capabilities and comprehensive service ecosystem, Aiming is well-positioned to scale its game portfolio and navigate future market challenges with confidence.