diff --git a/unity-client/Assets/Scripts/Services/GameWebSocketClient.cs b/unity-client/Assets/Scripts/Services/GameWebSocketClient.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7174db0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unity-client/Assets/Scripts/Services/GameWebSocketClient.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections;
+using System.Collections.Concurrent;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using UnityEngine;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using CommanderAILab.UI;
+
+namespace CommanderAILab.Services
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// WebSocket client for the live game backend (ws://localhost:8080/ws/game).
+    /// - Connects on Start and auto-reconnects on disconnect.
+    /// - Sends a ping every 15 s to keep the connection alive.
+    /// - All GameStateManager.ApplyServerEvent calls are dispatched
+    ///   on the Unity main thread via a thread-safe queue.
+    /// </summary>
+    public class GameWebSocketClient : MonoBehaviour
+    {
+        [SerializeField] private string serverUrl = "ws://localhost:8080/ws/game";
+        [SerializeField] private float  reconnectDelay  = 3f;
+        [SerializeField] private float  pingIntervalSec = 15f;
+
+        private System.Net.WebSockets.ClientWebSocket _ws;
+        private CancellationTokenSource _cts;
+        private readonly ConcurrentQueue<(string type, string payload)> _mainThreadQueue = new();
+        private bool _running;
+        private float _pingTimer;
+
+        // ── Lifecycle ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+        private void Start()
+        {
+            // Allow override via PlayerPrefs so users can point at a remote server
+            string saved = PlayerPrefs.GetString("ServerUrl", "");
+            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(saved)) serverUrl = saved.TrimEnd('/') + "/ws/game";
+
+            _running = true;
+            StartCoroutine(ConnectLoop());
+        }
+
+        private void Update()
+        {
+            // Drain main-thread queue
+            while (_mainThreadQueue.TryDequeue(out var msg))
+                GameStateManager.Instance?.ApplyServerEvent(msg.type, msg.payload);
+
+            // Ping
+            _pingTimer += Time.deltaTime;
+            if (_pingTimer >= pingIntervalSec)
+            {
+                _pingTimer = 0f;
+                _ = SendRawAsync("{\"type\":\"ping\"}");
+            }
+        }
+
+        private void OnDestroy()
+        {
+            _running = false;
+            _cts?.Cancel();
+            _ws?.Dispose();
+        }
+
+        // ── Connection loop ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+        private IEnumerator ConnectLoop()
+        {
+            while (_running)
+            {
+                _cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
+                _ws  = new System.Net.WebSockets.ClientWebSocket();
+
+                bool connected = false;
+                var connectTask = _ws.ConnectAsync(new Uri(serverUrl), _cts.Token);
+
+                yield return new WaitUntil(() => connectTask.IsCompleted);
+
+                if (!connectTask.IsFaulted && !connectTask.IsCanceled)
+                {
+                    connected = true;
+                    Debug.Log("[GameWebSocketClient] Connected to " + serverUrl);
+                    _ = ReceiveLoop();
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    Debug.LogWarning($"[GameWebSocketClient] Connect failed: {connectTask.Exception?.Message}");
+                }
+
+                if (!connected)
+                {
+                    yield return new WaitForSeconds(reconnectDelay);
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    // Stay here until the WS closes
+                    yield return new WaitUntil(() =>
+                        _ws.State != System.Net.WebSockets.WebSocketState.Open);
+
+                    Debug.Log("[GameWebSocketClient] Disconnected — reconnecting...");
+                    yield return new WaitForSeconds(reconnectDelay);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        // ── Receive loop (background thread) ────────────────────────────────
+        private async Task ReceiveLoop()
+        {
+            var buffer = new byte[8192];
+            try
+            {
+                while (_ws.State == System.Net.WebSockets.WebSocketState.Open)
+                {
+                    var sb = new StringBuilder();
+                    System.Net.WebSockets.WebSocketReceiveResult result;
+                    do
+                    {
+                        result = await _ws.ReceiveAsync(
+                            new ArraySegment<byte>(buffer), _cts.Token);
+                        sb.Append(Encoding.UTF8.GetString(buffer, 0, result.Count));
+                    } while (!result.EndOfMessage);
+
+                    if (result.MessageType ==
+                        System.Net.WebSockets.WebSocketMessageType.Close)
+                        break;
+
+                    string raw = sb.ToString();
+                    ParseAndEnqueue(raw);
+                }
+            }
+            catch (OperationCanceledException) { }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                Debug.LogWarning($"[GameWebSocketClient] ReceiveLoop error: {ex.Message}");
+            }
+        }
+
+        // ── Parse incoming JSON envelope ─────────────────────────────────────
+        private void ParseAndEnqueue(string raw)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                var env = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<WsEnvelope>(raw);
+                if (env == null) return;
+
+                if (env.type == "pong") return;  // ignore keepalive responses
+
+                _mainThreadQueue.Enqueue((env.type, env.payload ?? raw));
+            }
+            catch
+            {
+                Debug.LogWarning($"[GameWebSocketClient] Failed to parse: {raw}");
+            }
+        }
+
+        // ── Send (public for HumanActionBar fallback) ────────────────────────
+        public async Task SendRawAsync(string json)
+        {
+            if (_ws == null ||
+                _ws.State != System.Net.WebSockets.WebSocketState.Open) return;
+            try
+            {
+                var bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(json);
+                await _ws.SendAsync(new ArraySegment<byte>(bytes),
+                    System.Net.WebSockets.WebSocketMessageType.Text,
+                    true, _cts?.Token ?? CancellationToken.None);
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                Debug.LogWarning($"[GameWebSocketClient] Send error: {ex.Message}");
+            }
+        }
+
+        // ── POCO ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+        [Serializable]
+        private class WsEnvelope
+        {
+            [JsonProperty("type")]    public string type;
+            [JsonProperty("payload")] public string payload;
+        }
+    }
+}