Powering Telegram’s Gaming Ecosystem — Inside the Architecture of PlayDeck

PlayDeck is more than just a catalog — it’s the foundation of a fast-growing gaming ecosystem inside Telegram. As the platform’s leading directory for mini-games and experiences, PlayDeck connects players, developers, and monetization tools across a highly distributed, high-traffic environment.

When we joined the project, the challenge was clear: build a secure, scalable backend that could handle real-time activity from thousands of players, support a microservices-based architecture, and integrate deeply with Telegram’s ecosystem — including bots, Stars, and TON payments.

We designed and implemented the entire backend architecture using Kotlin and Spring, relying on Netty for efficient networking and Kafka for high-throughput message processing. PostgreSQL and jOOQ were used for structured data and complex queries, while Redis was added for speed-critical tasks like caching and leaderboard reads.

The system is built as a set of independent services, each handling a specific domain: user profiles, leaderboards, the game catalog, payment processing, push notifications, and bot communication. This modular setup allows for horizontal scaling, fine-grained security policies, and continuous deployment without downtime.

We also introduced a task queue system using Redis Streams to manage delayed jobs — such as scheduled notifications, content recommendations, and engagement tracking — allowing background tasks to run predictably even under load.

From a security perspective, we implemented strict authentication, rate limiting, and encrypted traffic between services. Regular security audits were run throughout development.

Integration with Telegram was handled through multiple layers: direct bot API communication, inline games, deep linking, and support for both TON and Stars in-app purchases. The system supports thousands of games and handles millions of interactions daily — from browsing and launching games to tracking player achievements and processing rewards.

Today, PlayDeck is the backbone of a thriving Telegram gaming community. It’s used by players around the world to discover new titles, climb leaderboards, and earn rewards — all within the same chat platform they use every day.

And for developers, PlayDeck offers a powerful toolkit: easy onboarding, real-time analytics, and monetization infrastructure that scales.

Projects like this don’t just require code — they require architecture, collaboration, and a long-term mindset. We’re proud to be part of PlayDeck’s journey.