Recommended best practices#

If you’re new to using player authentication in your game, here are some recommendations and tips to help you make decisions with implementing Unity Authentication.

Anonymous authentication introduces players to your game and provides a frictionless First Time User Experience. A First Time User Experience is the initial interaction with the application. A player can go through the first few levels using an anonymous account, so game servers can still track the progress while the player gets a chance to try out and explore your game.

Once a player becomes invested in your game, prompt the player to upgrade their anonymous account to sign in with a platform account. A benefit of signing in with a platform account makes a player’s game progress recoverable if they want to switch devices and continue playing, or access items gained or purchased in the game.

To implement this:

• Use a player’s anonymous sign-in to create a new account and let the player get started with the game. Meanwhile, existing players can sign in with their platform accounts.
• When it's a good time to prompt the player to upgrade their anonymous account (for example, when the player reaches a certain level, or if they’re trying to make their first purchase) prompt them to upgrade their anonymous account by linking with platform accounts. This provides a way to recover their game progress and purchases on another device, or if they need to reinstall the game in the future.

Another approach to authentication is to request the player to link their platform accounts with a game from the start. In this case, the game can provide options to link the current account with additional platform accounts, so the player can use either to sign in and get the same progress back.