diff --git a/internal/message/fixtures/test_must_gzip.golden b/internal/message/fixtures/test_must_gzip.golden
index cbe8de5b..7e520d47 100644
Binary files a/internal/message/fixtures/test_must_gzip.golden and b/internal/message/fixtures/test_must_gzip.golden differ
diff --git a/util/compression/compression.go b/util/compression/compression.go
index 37faf031..c05f3a93 100644
--- a/util/compression/compression.go
+++ b/util/compression/compression.go
@@ -2,42 +2,28 @@ package compression
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"compress/gzip"
-	"io"
+	"compress/zlib"
 	"io/ioutil"
 )
 
 func DeflateData(data []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	var bb bytes.Buffer
-	gz := gzip.NewWriter(&bb)
-	_, err := gz.Write(data)
+	z := zlib.NewWriter(&bb)
+	_, err := z.Write(data)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	gz.Close()
+	z.Close()
 	return bb.Bytes(), nil
 }
 
-// Write gunzipped data to a Writer
-func GunzipWrite(w io.Writer, data []byte) error {
-	// Write gzipped data to the client
-	gr, err := gzip.NewReader(bytes.NewBuffer(data))
-	defer gr.Close()
-	data, err = ioutil.ReadAll(gr)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	w.Write(data)
-	return nil
-}
-
 func InflateData(data []byte) ([]byte, error) {
-	gr, err := gzip.NewReader(bytes.NewBuffer(data))
+	zr, err := zlib.NewReader(bytes.NewBuffer(data))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	defer gr.Close()
+	defer zr.Close()
 
-	return ioutil.ReadAll(gr)
+	return ioutil.ReadAll(zr)
 }
 
diff --git a/util/compression/compression_test.go b/util/compression/compression_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ae897c15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/compression/compression_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+package compression
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"github.com/topfreegames/pitaya/helpers"
+)
+
+var update = flag.Bool("update", false, "update .golden files")
+
+func TestCompressionDeflate(t *testing.T) {
+	ins := []struct {
+		name string
+		data string
+	}{
+		{"compression_deflate_test_1", "test"},
+		{"compression_deflate_test_2", "{a:1,b:2}"},
+		{"compression_deflate_test_3", "Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit"},
+	}
+
+	for _, in := range ins {
+		t.Run(in.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			b, err := DeflateData([]byte(in.data))
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			gp := filepath.Join("fixtures", in.name+".golden")
+			if *update {
+				t.Log("updating golden file")
+				helpers.WriteFile(t, gp, b)
+			}
+			expected := helpers.ReadFile(t, gp)
+
+			assert.Equal(t, expected, b)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCompressionInflate(t *testing.T) {
+	ins := []struct {
+		name string
+		data string
+	}{
+		{"compression_deflate_test_1", "test"},
+		{"compression_deflate_test_2", "{a:1,b:2}"},
+		{"compression_deflate_test_3", "Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit"},
+	}
+
+	for _, in := range ins {
+		t.Run(in.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			inputFile := filepath.Join("fixtures", in.name+".golden")
+			input := helpers.ReadFile(t, inputFile)
+
+			result, err := InflateData(input)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			assert.Equal(t, string(result), in.data)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCompressionInflateIncorrectData(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("compression_deflate_incorrect_data", func(t *testing.T) {
+		input := "arbitrary data"
+
+		result, err := InflateData([]byte(input))
+		require.Error(t, err)
+		assert.Nil(t, result)
+	})
+}
diff --git a/util/compression/fixtures/compression_deflate_test_1.golden b/util/compression/fixtures/compression_deflate_test_1.golden
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..28b043ea
Binary files /dev/null and b/util/compression/fixtures/compression_deflate_test_1.golden differ
diff --git a/util/compression/fixtures/compression_deflate_test_2.golden b/util/compression/fixtures/compression_deflate_test_2.golden
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..72a9f242
Binary files /dev/null and b/util/compression/fixtures/compression_deflate_test_2.golden differ
diff --git a/util/compression/fixtures/compression_deflate_test_3.golden b/util/compression/fixtures/compression_deflate_test_3.golden
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0207af4a
Binary files /dev/null and b/util/compression/fixtures/compression_deflate_test_3.golden differ
diff --git a/util/util_test.go b/util/util_test.go
index ca0b153e..565de084 100644
--- a/util/util_test.go
+++ b/util/util_test.go
@@ -167,7 +167,6 @@ func TestSerializeOrRaw(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestGobEncode(t *testing.T) {
-
 	ins := []struct {
 		name string
 		data []interface{}