How Amazon GameLift FlexMatch works
This topic provides an overview of the Amazon GameLift FlexMatch service, including the core components of a FlexMatch system and how they interact.
You can use FlexMatch with games that use Amazon GameLift managed hosting or with games that use another hosting solution. Games that are hosted on Amazon GameLift servers, including Realtime Servers, use the integrated Amazon GameLift service to automatically locate available game servers and start game sessions for the matches. Games that use FlexMatch as a standalone service, including Amazon GameLift FleetIQ, must coordinate with the existing hosting system to assign hosting resources and start game sessions for the matches.
For detailed guidance on setting up FlexMatch for your games, see Getting started with FlexMatch.
Matchmaking components
A FlexMatch matchmaking system includes some or all of the following components.
Amazon GameLift components
These are Amazon GameLift resources that control how the FlexMatch service performs matchmaking for your game. They are created and maintained using Amazon GameLift tools, including the console and the Amazon CLI or, alternatively, programmatically using the Amazon SDK for Amazon GameLift.
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FlexMatch matchmaking configuration (also called a matchmaker) – A matchmaker is a set of configuration values that customizes the matchmaking process for your game. A game can have multiple matchmakers, each configured for different game modes or experiences as needed. When your game sends a matchmaking request to FlexMatch, it specifies which matchmaker to use.
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FlexMatch matchmaking rule set – A rule set contains all the information that is needed to evaluate players for a potential matches and approve or reject. The rule set defines a match's team structure, declares the player attributes that are used for evaluation, and provides rules that describe the criteria for an acceptable match. Rules can apply to individual players, teams, or the entire match. For example, a rule might require that every players in the match choose the same game map, or it might require that all teams have similar player skill average.
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Amazon GameLift game session queue (for FlexMatch with Amazon GameLift managed hosting only) – A game session queue locates available hosting resources and starts a new game session for the match. The queue's configuration determines where Amazon GameLift looks for available hosting resources and how to select the best available host for a match.
Custom components
The following components encompass functionality that's required for a complete FlexMatch system that you must implement based on the architecture of your game.
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Player interface for matchmaking – This interface enables players to join a match. At a minimum, it initiates a matchmaking request through the client matchmaking service component and provides player-specific data, such as skill level and latency data, as needed for the matchmaking process.
Note
As a best practice, communication with the FlexMatch service should be done by a backend service, not from a game client.
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Client matchmaking service – This service fields the player join requests from the player interface, generates matchmaking requests, and sends them to the FlexMatch service. For requests in process, it monitors matchmaking events, tracks matchmaking status, and takes action as needed. Depending on how you manage game session hosting in your game, this service may return game session connection information back to players. This component uses the Amazon SDK with the Amazon GameLift API to communicate with the FlexMatch service.
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Match placement service (for FlexMatch as a standalone service only) – This component works with your existing game hosting system to locate available hosting resources and start new game sessions for matches. The component must get the matchmaking results and extract the information needed to start a new game session, including player IDs, attributes, and team assignments for all players in the match.