Alexander Michailidis, founder and CEO of Gnarlux is on a mission to reshape online gaming. Currently in early access, his platform began as an esports tournament hub where organizers could host competitions and players could earn points or cash rewards.
But Gnarlux quickly grew beyond tournaments. Users wanted a broader space, a community with less toxicity. “People told me, why not expand it as a social platform too?” Alexander says. So he did, and he’s building it with Laravel Cloud.
Today, Alexander is building a full social ecosystem for gamers: a tournament system, a marketplace where users can redeem points, end-to-end encrypted messaging, and a video-on-demand feature for match replays. Every user is verified through Veriff to prevent fake accounts and bots. The goal is to create a safer, more transparent gaming environment.
The app's homepage (pre-release version). Gnarlux is now available in EA
Why Laravel Cloud
When Laravel Cloud launched, Alexander immediately migrated. “I published the app in less than five minutes,” he says. “All the headaches of setting up a real server were gone. Everything just worked.”
He uses Laravel Cloud for three environments: development, beta, and production, mirroring Apple’s approach to release management. The platform’s hibernation feature, real-time dashboard, and quick setup save him hours every week. “I love the dashboard. I can control everything and see it in real time. And the pricing? Way cheaper than other alternatives.”
Choosing Laravel Hosting Over Big Tech
Alexander explored other Laravel hosting options, including AWS and Google Cloud, before settling on Laravel Cloud. “Honestly, it was the naming. Everything that is Laravel and works with Laravel, that was the key selling point for me. I could publish my app there with no issues: it just worked,” he explains.
“I don’t have to troubleshoot or research why something isn’t working. I have the framework and Cloud, and they fit perfectly together. Even if the costs were higher, I’d still stay with Laravel Cloud because of that seamless system.”
Measured Impact
By relying on Laravel Cloud, Alexander has been able to:
- Launch and test new updates in minutes instead of hours
- Simplify environment management with one unified dashboard
- Eliminate server provisioning issues that used to slow down deployments
- Avoid the immediate need to hire a DevOps engineer while operating solo
From Thesis to Startup: A New Laravel Tech Stack
Gnarlux started as Alexander’s college thesis project, one that earned top recognition from his professors. But the journey wasn’t smooth. After a hardware failure wiped out his frontend during the COVID-19 pandemic, he rebuilt everything from scratch. “Either you stop, or you continue working on something inspiring,” he recalls. He chose to rebuild, modernizing his tech stack along the way.
His backend runs entirely on Laravel Cloud, with Vue on the frontend. He integrates Laravel Nightwatch for monitoring and Reverb for broadcasting, plus several gaming APIs. For authentication, he uses Veriff to ensure player identity.
If there’s one thing Alexander would like to see added to Laravel Cloud, it’s more integrations. He’s currently one of the early access users of managed Reverb in Laravel Cloud. “When I had to integrate Reverb manually, it took me half a month. If we had more integrations in Cloud, scaling would be even faster.”
But even that hasn’t soured his view of the platform: “Everything I need is there. The pricing is fair, the UI is great, and the Support team is amazing. I never even had to wait for a reply.”
Advice for Developers on Using Laravel Cloud
For anyone starting with Laravel Cloud, Alexander recommends spending time with the documentation and community resources. “Learn what Laravel Cloud is and how you can use it to grow your ideas. And go to Laracasts: I grew up learning from there.”
Preparing for GA
Gnarlux is preparing for its public launch before Christmas, starting with iOS and later expanding to Android. The platform will host its first tournaments over the holidays. Alexander is determined to keep Gnarlux self-funded. His plan is to offer early access keys at a low price before opening it to everyone next year.
Laravel Cloud allows Alexander to build and scale Gnarlux entirely on his own, managing a multi-service platform without infrastructure overhead. “I can’t imagine my platform without Cloud,” he says. “Everything I do just works.”
If you are ready to focus on building your vision without infrastructure headaches, Laravel Cloud can help you move from idea to launch just like Alexander.