A network-based system comprising: a master server providing access to a collaborative environment and configured to manage a first group (108a,..., 108m) and a second group (110a,..., 110k) of client devices, the first group of client devices (108a,..., 108m) requesting a render service; one or more processing devices providing the render service configured to provide rendered representations of the collaborative environment to the first group of client devices (108a,..., 108m); and one or more databases (106a,..., 106m) coupled to the one or more processing devices and configured to provide data for the collaborative environment to be processed by the processing devices, wherein the master server is further configured to dynamically assign each client device of the first group (108a,..., 108m) to a respective processing device by sending a respective connection request of the client device of the first group (108a,..., 108m) to the respective processing device and as soon as the connection request is accepted, to instruct the respective processing device to establish a direct connection between the respective processing device and the client device to provide a rendered representation of the collaborative environment to the client device via the direct connection, wherein the master server is further configured to directly provide data indicative of the collaborative environment to each client device of the second group (110a,..., 110k) to be locally rendered on the client devices of the second group (110a,..., 110k), and wherein responsive to a request from a client device of the first group (108a,..., 108m) to leave a render service of the assigned processing device, the client device of the first group (108a,..., 108m) is redirected back to the master server and re-grouped into the second group (110a,..., 110k) in order to directly receive the data indicative of the collaborative environment for local rendering. a master server providing access to a collaborative environment and configured to manage a first group (108a,..., 108m) and a second group (110a,..., 110k) of client devices, the first group of client devices (108a,..., 108m) requesting a render service; one or more processing devices providing the render service configured to provide rendered representations of the collaborative environment to the first group of client devices (108a,..., 108m); and one or more databases (106a,..., 106m) coupled to the one or more processing devices and configured to provide data for the collaborative environment to be processed by the processing devices, wherein the master server is further configured to dynamically assign each client device of the first group (108a,..., 108m) to a respective processing device by sending a respective connection request of the client device of the first group (108a,..., 108m) to the respective processing device and as soon as the connection request is accepted, to instruct the respective processing device to establish a direct connection between the respective processing device and the client device to provide a rendered representation of the collaborative environment to the client device via the direct connection, wherein the master server is further configured to directly provide data indicative of the collaborative environment to each client device of the second group (110a,..., 110k) to be locally rendered on the client devices of the second group (110a,..., 110k), and wherein responsive to a request from a client device of the first group (108a,..., 108m) to leave a render service of the assigned processing device, the client device of the first group (108a,..., 108m) is redirected back to the master server and re-grouped into the second group (110a,..., 110k) in order to directly receive the data indicative of the collaborative environment for local rendering.