I've been thinking about building something like this for a while now. The competitive gaming space, especially for console shooters, has always felt underserved. There are a few platforms out there, but most of them feel dated, clunky, or just don't care about the communities I'm part of.
So I started building GotNext.
The Idea
The concept is straightforward: a platform where players can compete in XP ladders and tournaments. Think of it as a competitive hub where you can find opponents, track your stats, and climb ranked leaderboards. No more screenshots in DMs and hoping the other person doesn't ghost you.
I wanted something that handles the entire flow: matchmaking, match verification, dispute resolution, and rankings. Down the line I want to add cash matches with real wagers, but that's a big feature with a lot of compliance involved, so it's not in the first version.
Starting Point
I'm building this as a monorepo. The backend is Java with Spring Boot. I know that's not the trendy choice for a solo dev project, but I've worked with it professionally and it's rock solid for building APIs. The frontend is Next.js with React and TypeScript, styled with Tailwind CSS.
For the database, PostgreSQL was an easy choice. I'm using Flyway for migrations so the schema stays versioned and reproducible. Everything runs in Docker locally, which makes it easy to spin up, tear down, and reset.
What I'm Building First
The initial feature set is focused on:
- User accounts with Xbox, PSN, and Steam platform linking
- XP Ladders where you earn XP for wins and climb a leaderboard
- Tournaments with single and double elimination brackets
- Match verification where both players confirm the result, with a dispute system as a fallback
The cash match / wager system is on the roadmap but won't be in the initial launch. I want to get the core competitive loop right first.
Why Not Just Use an Existing Platform?
Honestly, the existing options either don't support the games I care about, take massive cuts of prize pools, or have UX that feels like it hasn't been updated since 2015. I want to build something that feels modern, loads fast, and respects the players using it.
This is going to be a long road, but I'm excited to document the process as I go. Next up: diving deeper into the tech stack decisions and why I chose what I chose.