diff --git a/internal/signaling/stores/postgres.go b/internal/signaling/stores/postgres.go
index 5835dbd..017e418 100644
--- a/internal/signaling/stores/postgres.go
+++ b/internal/signaling/stores/postgres.go
@@ -90,12 +90,25 @@ func (s *PostgresStore) listen(ctx context.Context) error {
 		if !ok {
 			continue
 		}
-		raw := make([]byte, base64.StdEncoding.DecodedLen(len(data)))
-		l, err := base64.StdEncoding.Decode(raw, []byte(data))
+		rawCompressed := make([]byte, base64.StdEncoding.DecodedLen(len(data)))
+		l, err := base64.StdEncoding.Decode(rawCompressed, []byte(data))
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode payload: %w", err)
 		}
-		raw = raw[:l]
+		rawCompressed = rawCompressed[:l]
+
+		var raw []byte
+		if util.IsGzipCompressed(rawCompressed) {
+			raw, err = util.GzipDecompress(rawCompressed)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("failed to decompress payload: %w", err)
+			}
+		} else {
+			logger := logging.GetLogger(ctx)
+			logger.Warn("received uncompressed notification", zap.String("topic", topic))
+			raw = rawCompressed
+		}
+
 		s.notify(ctx, topic, raw)
 	}
 }
@@ -152,18 +165,19 @@ func (s *PostgresStore) Publish(ctx context.Context, topic string, data []byte)
 	if !topicRegexp.MatchString(topic) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("topic %q is invalid", topic)
 	}
-	totalLength := base64.StdEncoding.EncodedLen(len(data)) + len(topic) + 1
+
+	compressedData, err := util.GzipCompress(data)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to gzip data: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	totalLength := base64.StdEncoding.EncodedLen(len(compressedData)) + len(topic) + 1
 	if totalLength > 8000 {
-		// debug a Poki specific topic to understand why the payload gets so large in some cases
-		if topic == "2c23b92e-cc51-45f2-8ece-bff5d9b2e2d6" {
-			logger := logging.GetLogger(ctx)
-			logger.Warn("data is too long", zap.String("topic", topic), zap.Int("length", totalLength), zap.String("data", string(data)))
-		}
 		return fmt.Errorf("data too long for topic %q: %d", topic, totalLength)
 	}
-	encoded := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(data)
+	encoded := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(compressedData)
 	payload := topic + ":" + encoded
-	_, err := s.DB.Exec(ctx, `NOTIFY lobbies, '`+payload+`'`)
+	_, err = s.DB.Exec(ctx, `NOTIFY lobbies, '`+payload+`'`)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to publish to lobbies: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/util/gzip.go b/internal/util/gzip.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64e14ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/util/gzip.go
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+package util
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"compress/gzip"
+	"io"
+)
+
+func IsGzipCompressed(data []byte) bool {
+	// Gzip magic bytes: 0x1f 0x8b
+	return len(data) >= 2 && data[0] == 0x1f && data[1] == 0x8b
+}
+
+func GzipCompress(input []byte) ([]byte, error) {
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	writer, err := gzip.NewWriterLevel(&buf, gzip.BestSpeed)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	_, err = writer.Write(input)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	if err := writer.Close(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return buf.Bytes(), nil
+}
+
+func GzipDecompress(compressedInput []byte) ([]byte, error) {
+	reader, err := gzip.NewReader(bytes.NewReader(compressedInput))
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	decompressed, err := io.ReadAll(reader)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	err = reader.Close()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return decompressed, nil
+}