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Amazon GameLift Servers release notes - Amazon GameLift Servers
SDK versionsRelease notes
Services or capabilities described in Amazon Web Services documentation might vary by Region. To see the differences applicable to the China Regions, see Getting Started with Amazon Web Services in China (PDF).

Amazon GameLift Servers release notes

The Amazon GameLift Servers release notes provide details about new features, updates, and fixes related to the service.

SDK versions

The following tables list all Amazon GameLift Servers releases with SDK version information. There is no requirement to use comparable SDKs for your game server and client integrations. However, earlier versions of one SDK may not fully support the latest features in another.

Amazon GameLift Servers SDKs and plugins are open source. See Get Amazon GameLift Servers development tools. To get the latest versions, see the Amazon GameLift Servers GitHub organization.

Current version

Current SDK versions in the Amazon China Regions
Service release Amazon SDK for C++ C# server SDK C++ server SDK Unreal (C++) server SDK Realtime client SDK
December 14, 2023 release notes 1.11.225 or later on GitHub 4.0.2 3.4.2 3.4.0 1.2.0
Service release Amazon SDK for C++ C# server SDK C++ server SDK Unreal (C++) server SDK Realtime client SDK
April 20, 2023 release notes 1.11.63 or later on GitHub 4.0.2 3.4.2 3.4.0 1.2.0
January 31, 2023 release notes 1.10.21 or later on GitHub 3.4.0 1.2.0
August 25, 2022 release notes 1.9.333 or later on GitHub 4.0.2 3.4.2 3.4.0 1.2.0
October 28, 2021 release notes 1.9.133 or later on GitHub 4.0.2 3.4.2 3.4.0 1.2.0
June 3, 2021 release notes 1.8.168 or later on GitHub 4.0.2 3.4.2 3.4.0 1.2.0
March 23, 2021 release notes 1.8.168 or later on GitHub 4.0.2 3.4.1 3.3.3 1.1.0
March 16, 2021 release notes 1.8.163 or later on GitHub 4.0.2 3.4.1 3.3.3 1.1.0
February 9, 2021 release notes 1.8.139 or later on GitHub 4.0.2 3.4.1 3.3.3 1.1.0
December 22, 2020 release notes 1.8.95 or later on GitHub 4.0.2 3.4.1 3.3.3 1.1.0
November 24, 2020 release notes 1.8.95 or later on GitHub 4.0.2 3.4.1 3.3.2 1.1.0
November 11, 2020 release notes 1.8.36 or later on GitHub 4.0.2 3.4.1 3.3.2 1.1.0
September 17, 2020 release notes 1.8.36 or later on GitHub 4.0.1 3.4.1 3.3.2 1.1.0
August 27, 2020 release notes 1.7.310 or later on GitHub 4.0.0 3.4.0 3.3.1 1.1.0
April 16, 2020 release notes 1.7.310 or later on GitHub 4.0.0 3.4.0 3.3.1 1.1.0
April 2, 2020 release notes 1.7.310 or later on GitHub 3.4.0 3.4.0 1.1.0
December 19, 2019 release notes 1.7.249 or later on GitHub 3.4.0 3.4.0 1.1.0
November 14, 2019 release notes 1.7.210 or later on GitHub 3.4.0 3.4.0 1.1.0
October 24, 2019 release notes 1.7.210 or later on GitHub 3.4.0 3.4.0 1.1.0
September 3, 2019 release notes 1.7.175 or later on GitHub 3.4.0 3.4.0 1.1.0
July 9, 2019 release notes 1.7.140 or later on GitHub 3.3.0 3.3.0 1.0.0
April 25, 2019 release notes 1.7.91 or later on GitHub 3.3.0 3.3.0 1.0.0
March 7, 2019 release notes 1.7.65 or later on GitHub 3.3.0 3.3.0
February 7, 2019 release notes 1.7.45 or later on GitHub 3.3.0 3.3.0
December 14, 2018 release notes 1.6.20 or later on GitHub 3.3.0 3.3.0
September 27, 2018 release notes 1.6.20 or later on GitHub 3.2.1 3.2.1
June 14, 2018 release notes 1.4.47 or later on GitHub 3.2.1 3.2.1
May 10, 2018 release notes 1.4.47 or later on GitHub 3.2.1 3.2.1
February 15, 2018 release notes 1.3.58 or later on GitHub 3.2.1 3.2.1
February 8, 2018 release notes 1.3.52 or later on GitHub 3.2.0 3.2.0
September 1, 2017 release notes 1.1.43 or later on GitHub 3.1.7 3.1.7
August 16, 2017 release notes 1.1.31 or later on GitHub 3.1.7 3.1.7
May 16, 2017 release notes 1.0.122 or later on GitHub 3.1.5 3.1.5
April 11, 2017 release notes 1.0.103 or later on GitHub 3.1.5 3.1.5
February 21, 2017 release notes 1.0.72 or later on GitHub 3.1.5 3.1.5
November 18, 2016 release notes 1.0.31 or later on GitHub 3.1.0
October 13, 2016 release notes 1.0.17 or later on GitHub 3.1.0
September 1, 2016 release notes 0.14.9 or later on GitHub 3.1.0
August 4, 2016 release notes 0.12.16 or later on GitHub 3.0.7

Release notes

The following release notes are in chronological order, with the latest updates listed first. Amazon GameLift Servers was first released in 2016. For release notes dated earlier than those listed here, see the release date links in SDK versions.

This release makes it simpler to onboard games and integrate with Amazon GameLift Servers, based on customer feedback. These updates help customers get started and manage game sessions within fleets more easily.

Amazon GameLift Servers now returns a ComputeName field in game session API responses. You can use this field to identify which compute is hosting a game session, without cross-referencing IP addresses. This field is available for managed EC2 fleets, managed container fleets, and Anywhere fleets. The ComputeName and GameSessionLocation fields are also now included in PlacementFulfilled and MatchmakingSucceeded events.

Amazon GameLift Servers API Reference links:

This release also includes several Amazon GameLift Servers console improvements. With these updates, you can now:

  • Upload builds directly – In addition to the Amazon S3 import method, you can select a build file and upload it directly to Amazon GameLift Servers from the console.

  • Clone fleet configurations – Clone an existing managed EC2 fleet configuration to create a new fleet.

  • Connect to instances and containers – Use SSM to connect directly from game session, player session, and compute details pages, including new access commands for containers.

  • View compute and instance data – Game session tables now display ComputeName and InstanceId columns for managed EC2 and container fleets.

  • View container fleet compute details – Container fleets now include compute tables and compute detail views.

  • View game session log locations – The game session details page now displays Amazon S3 URIs and Amazon CloudWatch log group ARNs for container fleets.

  • Refresh data – Refresh buttons are now available on all list pages and detail views.

Learn more:

Amazon GameLift Servers releases for general availability a set of fixed endpoints called UDP ping beacons to help you accurately measure latency between player devices and game server locations. The UDP ping beacon endpoints are available in Amazon Web Services regions where Amazon GameLift Servers is available, including in the Beijing and Ningxia (China) Regions.

Most multiplayer games use UDP (User Datagram Protocol) as their primary packet transmission protocol due to its performance benefits for real-time gaming. Understanding and optimizing network latency is crucial for delivering the best possible player experience. UDP ping beacons provide a consistent and reliable way to measure actual UDP packet latency between players and game servers, helping you make better decisions about player-to-server matching and game session placement.

The ListLocations API has been extended to include endpoint domain and port information as part of the list of locations it returns, making it easy to programmatically access the endpoints.

Your game client can send UDP messages to these endpoints and receive asynchronous responses with the same data, giving you latency measurements that better represent actual game traffic conditions between a player's device and potential hosting locations. These endpoints are permanent and remain available as long as Amazon GameLift Servers supports game hosting in that location.

Learn more:

Amazon GameLift Servers now supports automatic scaling to and from zero instances based on game session activity. Fleets scale down to zero following a defined period of no game session activity and scale up from zero when game sessions are requested, providing an option for cost optimization.

Amazon GameLift Servers API Reference links:

Learn more:

Amazon GameLift Servers Realtime now supports Node.js 24.x on Amazon Linux 2023. This update provides access to the latest Node.js features and security improvements while running on the modern Amazon Linux 2023 operating system.

You can now also include an optional install script when creating a Realtime fleet, allowing the installation of software during instance startup for your specific requirements. To use the new runtime version, specify Node.js 24.x when creating Realtime scripts.

Amazon GameLift Servers API Reference links:

Learn more:

Amazon GameLift Servers now provides AI-powered assistance in the web console, leveraging Amazon Q Developer to provide tailored guidance for game developers. This new feature integrates specialized Amazon GameLift Servers knowledge to help customers navigate complex workflows, troubleshoot issues, and optimize their game server deployments more efficiently.

This new feature provides AI-assisted recommendations for game server integration, fleet configuration, and performance optimization directly within the Amazon GameLift Servers console. This enhancement aims to streamline decision making processes, reduce troubleshooting time, and improve overall resource utilization, leading to cost savings and better player experiences.

Learn more:

Amazon GameLift Servers customers can now use the Amazon Linux 2023 operating system to host their game servers. AL2023 offers several improvements over AL2 including security.

Customers can use the newer Linux operating systems and continue to receive critical security updates when support ends for Amazon Linux 2 in June 2026.

Amazon GameLift Servers API Reference links:

Amazon GameLift is a fully-managed service that's dedicated to helping developers build, scale, and deliver the world's most demanding games. With the general availability release of Amazon GameLift Streams, Amazon GameLift now offers both high-scaling game server and smooth-gameplay streaming capabilities.

Amazon GameLift Servers gives game developers the capability to deploy, operate, and scale dedicated game servers. You can deploy high-performance game servers in the cloud in minutes and scale up and down to meet player demand. Built on Amazon proven computing environment, Amazon GameLift Servers supports 100 million concurrent players in a single game, 100 thousand player adds per second, and 9 thousand new compute instances per minute. And with enterprise-grade security, matchmaking for the largest crowds, and pay-as-you-go flexibility, it helps you get started whether you’re working on a new game idea or running a game with millions of players.

Amazon GameLift Streams helps game developers deliver game streaming experiences at up to 1080p resolution and 60 frames-per-second (fps) with no perceivable lag across devices including iOS, Android, FireOS, and PCs for gamers. Using a single Amazon offering, publishers can deploy their game content in minutes, without modifications, onto fully-managed cloud-based GPU instances and deliver them through the Amazon Network Backbone directly to any end-player device with a web browser. Players can start gaming in just a few seconds, without waiting for a download or an install and it delivers a gameplay experience that is nearly indistinguishable from playing the game locally on a PC or gaming console.

Updated SDK versions:

  • Amazon SDK 1.11.485

In response to customer feedback, we're releasing new functionality that lets you prioritize locations for individual game session placement requests. For your queues that are configured to prioritize placement by location, you can now provide a customized list of priority locations with each placement request.

This new feature lets customers dynamically change location priorities for each placement request as needed. The additional flexibility means that you can better respond to changing conditions, such as player locations, fleet load, or server health. It can also support customers who want to further customize how placement locations are selected.

Learn more:

Based on customer feedback, we've clarified the Amazon GameLift Servers workflow for creating a managed EC2 fleet and getting it ready to host game sessions. Improvements include:

  • We've provided more specific and accurate descriptions of each phase of the fleet creation process. This improved visibility makes it easier to pinpoint and resolve issues faster.

  • The Building and Activating phases better separate instance deployment tasks (building) from tasks to start game server processes and connect to the Amazon GameLift Servers service (activating). This change makes it easier to recognize the likely cause of issues. In addition, you can now remotely connect to fleets when they're in the Activating phase.

  • Two new fleet creation events communicate the success or failure of game server install scripts. If your game server build includes an install script, Amazon GameLift Servers attempts to run the script and emits one of the following new events:

    • FLEET_CREATION_COMPLETED_INSTALLER

    • FLEET_CREATION_FAILED_INSTALLER

Learn more:

Based on customer feedback, we've made the following updates to the Amazon GameLift Servers console experience:

  • Your display preferences for pages are now automatically saved to your Amazon account user and applied whenever you return to the page. Display preferences let you choose what information to include in a table display, such as on the Fleets listing page. Customize your display preferences by using the Gear icon representing settings or configuration options. icon in the upper right corner of a table.

  • The Create Fleet workflow for managed EC2 fleets has been streamlined to combine the selection of fleet locations and instance types. We've made it easier for you to find the right instance type for your fleet, even when you change your locations selections.

Learn more:

You can now manage your entire Amazon GameLift Servers resource stack using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools. These tools include Amazon CloudFormation, and also third-party tools such as Terraform and Pulumi. With this added support, you can now focus on building your game, and leverage dev-Ops strategies to take care of resource management, continuous integration and deployment to your customers.

You can also now provision and configure all Amazon GameLift Servers resources types by using the Amazon Cloud Control API. You can continue to work with resources using the Amazon GameLift Servers APIs or the Amazon CloudFormation templates for Amazon GameLift Servers.

For details about the Amazon GameLift Servers resources available through IaC, see the https://docs.amazonaws.cn/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/AWS_GameLift.html.

In addition, you can now automatically scale your fleets using Amazon CloudFormation templates or the Amazon Cloud Control API by using the new Fleet property: ScalingPolicies.

The Cloud Control API gives developers a standard set of APIs to create, read, update, delete, and list resources (CRUDL) across hundreds of Amazon services and multiple third-party tools like Terraform and Pulumi.

Learn more:

You've already been able to set game properties when creating game sessions, and to search game sessions for specified properties. Now you can also add and update these properties in an active game session.

For example, your players vote on a map that they want to play on. Your game client calls UpdateGameSession to modify a GameProperty value to {"Key": "map", "Value":"jungle"}. Your game then implements the new map for the players in the game session.

Game administrators can also retrieve useful data from game properties by using the SearchGameSessions operation. For example, administrators can list game sessions that have a Status value of ACTIVE and this game property: {"Key": "map", "Value":"desert"}.

Learn more:

The new Amazon GameLift Servers console is now the default experience for customers in all regions, including China. It includes these improvements:

  • Improved navigation – The new navigation pane facilitates navigation between Amazon GameLift Servers resources.

  • Amazon GameLift Servers landing page – The new landing page provides links to helpful documentation, displays a high-level overview of Amazon GameLift Servers, and provides support through links to documentation, frequently asked questions, and Amazon Web Services re:Post.

  • Improved Amazon CloudWatch metrics – Amazon GameLift Servers metrics are now available in both the Amazon GameLift Servers console and your CloudWatch dashboards. This update also includes new metrics for performance, utilization, hardware, and player sessions.

You can now track hardware performance metrics for your Amazon GameLift Servers managed EC2 fleets. Metrics include EC2 instance metrics for CPU utilization, network traffic volume, and disk read/write activity. For Amazon GameLift Servers, these metrics describe all active instances in a fleet location. You can view these fleet hardware metrics using an Amazon CloudWatch dashboard in the Amazon Web Services Management Console. You can also view them in the Amazon GameLift Servers console in fleet details.

Learn more:

Updated SDK versions: Amazon SDK 1.11.87

If you use Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ for game hosting, you can now prevent game session placements on instances that are currently draining. Draining instances are flagged for shutdown, but they can still be selected to host new game sessions if no other hosting resources are available. With this new feature, you can exclude the use of draining instances entirely.

Use this feature when calling ClaimGameServer to find available game servers. Add the new FilterOption parameter and set allowed instance statuses to ACTIVE only. In response, Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ looks only at active instances when searching for and claiming an available game server.

Learn more:

Amazon GameLift Servers customers can now use Amazon Billing cost allocation tags to organize their game hosting costs. You can assign cost allocation tags to individual Amazon GameLift Servers EC2 fleet resources to track how your fleets are contributing to the overall hosting costs.

Learn more:

Updated SDK versions: Amazon SDK 1.11.63

Amazon GameLift Servers customers can now use the Windows Server 2016 operating system to host their game servers. This operating system is available in all Amazon Web Services Regions. Customers can use the newer Windows operating system and continue to receive critical security updates as Microsoft ends its support for Windows Server 2012 in October 2023.

Starting today, new customers who require a Windows runtime environment must specify Windows Server 2016 when creating new game server builds for hosting. Existing customers can continue to create new builds and fleets with Windows Server 2012 but must complete migration with Windows Server 2016 before the Microsoft end of support date on October 10, 2023.

This update includes the following service changes:

  • When creating a game server build using Amazon GameLift Servers SDK or CLI commands, you must now explicitly set the operating system. There is no longer a default value. To deploy your game server on Windows Server 2016, use the value WINDOWS_2016.

  • When creating a game server build using the Amazon GameLift Servers console, you must select an operating system from the available values. If you're an existing customer with active Windows Server 2012 fleets, you can choose either WINDOWS_2012 or WINDOWS_2016.

Learn more:

Server Side Encryption ((SSE)) for SNS topics encrypts your sensitive data at rest. SSE uses Amazon Key Management Service (Amazon KMS) keys to protect the contents of your SNS topics.

Learn more:

The new Amazon GameLift Servers console includes these improvements:

  • Improved navigation – The new navigation pane facilitates navigation between Amazon GameLift Servers resources.

  • Amazon GameLift Servers landing page – The new landing page provides links to helpful documentation, displays a high-level overview of Amazon GameLift Servers, and provides support through links to documentation, frequently asked questions, and Amazon Web Services re:Post.

  • Improved Amazon CloudWatch metrics – Amazon GameLift Servers metrics are now available in both the Amazon GameLift Servers console and your CloudWatch dashboards. This update also includes new metrics for performance, utilization, and player sessions.

Learn more:

FlexMatch users now have access to the following features:

  • Compound rule – Added support for compound matchmaking rules for matches of 40 or fewer players. You can now use logical statements to create a compound rule to form a match. Without a compound rule in your rule set, to form a match, all the rules in the rule set must be true. With compound rules, you can choose which rules to apply using the following logical operators: and, or, not, and xor.

  • Flexible team selection – Updated matchmaking property expressions to support selecting a subset of all available teams.

  • Longer string lists – Increased the maximum number of strings from 10 to 100 in a list of strings of player attribute values.

Learn more:

You can use the batchDistance rule type to specify a string or numeric attribute, bringing a host of benefits to each segment.

Highlights:

  • For large matches (>40 players), instead of evenly balancing players by skill only, you can now get that same balance based on skill, modes, and maps. Ensure that everyone in the match is in a skill band, band multiple numeric attributes such as league or play style, and group according to string attributes such as map or game mode. You can also create expansions over time. For example, you can create an expansion to allow a greater skill level range to enter the match the longer the player is waiting.

    For matches under 40 players, you can use a new simplified rules expression.

Updated SDK versions: Realtime Client SDK 1.2.0, Server SDK 3.4.0 for Unreal

With this latest SDK update, you can now integrate IL2CPP into your mobile applications that use the RTS Client SDK and follow best practices with frameworks. You can also now build the Amazon GameLift Servers Server SDK for Unreal Version 4.26. This update contains components that integrate with your Windows or Linux game server, including C++ and C# versions of the Amazon GameLift Servers Server SDK, Amazon GameLift Servers Local, and an Unreal Engine plugin.

Highlights:

  • Added support for IL2CPP in the RTS Client SDK and for building the native libraries as frameworks, so you can build RTS clients for the latest mobile devices.

  • You can use DescribePlayerSessions() to get information for a single player session, for all player sessions in a game session, or for all player sessions associated with a single player ID.

  • Created Server SDK support for Unreal version 4.26.

  • The existing C# SDK, version 4.0.2, has been verified compatible with Unity 2020.3. No SDK updates were required.

Learn more:

Updated SDK versions: Amazon SDK 1.8.168 on GitHub

You can now use events to monitor game session placement activity for a game session queue. Create an Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) topic to publish event notifications, or set up event tracking using CloudWatch Events.

Highlights:

  • For each queue, you can set a custom text string to be included in all event messaging.

  • When using an Amazon SNS topic, you can set additional access conditions that limit publishing to specific queues.

Learn more:

Updated SDK versions: Amazon SDK 1.8.139 on GitHub

This release includes the following updates:

  • Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ game server groups can now be configured to manage the AMD instance families C5a, M5a, and R5a. The supported Amazon EC2 instance types, as listed for the GameServerGroup InstanceDefinition, now include the following:

    • c5a.large, c5a.xlarge, c5a.2xlarge, c5a.4xlarge, c5a.8xlarge, c5a.12xlarge, c5a.16xlarge, c5a.24xlarge

    • m5a.large, m5a.xlarge, m5a.2xlarge, m5a.4xlarge, m5a.8xlarge, m5a.12xlarge, m5a.16xlarge, m5a.24xlarge

    • r5a.large, r5a.xlarge, r5a.2xlarge, r5a.4xlarge, r5a.8xlarge, r5a.12xlarge, r5a.16xlarge, r5a.24xlarge

    Note: AMD instances for FleetIQ are currently not available for use in the China (Beijing) Amazon Region. See Feature availability and implementation differences in China.

  • Amazon GameLift Servers managed game hosting now supports AMD instances in the China (Beijing) Region, operated by Sinnet. The new AMD instance families include M5a and R5a. Supported EC2 instance types, as listed for fleet InstanceType, now include the following:

    • m5a.large, m5a.xlarge, m5a.2xlarge, m5a.4xlarge, m5a.8xlarge, m5a.12xlarge, m5a.16xlarge, m5a.24xlarge

    • r5a.large, r5a.xlarge, r5a.2xlarge, r5a.4xlarge, r5a.8xlarge, r5a.12xlarge, r5a.16xlarge, r5a.24xlarge

  • Amazon GameLift Servers FlexMatch can now be used as a standalone matchmaking solution in the China (Beijing) Region, operated by Sinnet. Customers can create a FlexMatch matchmaker in the Beijing Region and configure the FlexMatchMode parameter to STANDALONE. For more information about FlexMatch, either with Amazon GameLift Servers managed hosting or with a non-Amazon GameLift Servers hosting solution, in the Amazon GameLift Servers FlexMatch Developer Guide.

  • When setting up event notifications for Amazon GameLift Servers FlexMatch, you can now designate an Amazon SNS FIFO topic as the notification target. For more information, see:

Updated SDK versions: Amazon GameLift Servers Server SDK 4.0.2, Unreal plugin version 3.3.3

The latest version of the Amazon GameLift Servers Server SDK contains the following components:

  • The updated Unreal plugin has been updated for compatibility with Unreal Engine 4.25. The API was not changed.

  • The existing C# SDK, version 4.0.2, has been verified compatible with Unity 2020. No SDK updates were required.

Download the latest version of the Amazon GameLift Servers Server SDK at Amazon GameLift Servers getting started.

Updated SDK versions: Amazon SDK 1.8.95 on GitHub

Amazon GameLift Servers FlexMatch is a customizable matchmaking service for multiplayer games. Initially designed for users of Amazon GameLift Servers managed hosting, FlexMatch can now be integrated into games that use other hosting systems, including peer-to-peer, proprietary on-premises computing, and cloud compute primitive types. Games that use Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ for game hosting on Amazon EC2 can now implement matchmaking with FlexMatch.

FlexMatch provides a robust matchmaking algorithm and rules language that gives you wide latitude to customize the matchmaking process so that players are matched together based on key player characteristics and reported latency. In addition, FlexMatch offers a matchmaking request workflow that supports features such as player parties, player acceptance, and match backfill. When you use FlexMatch with Amazon GameLift Servers managed hosting or Amazon GameLift Servers Realtime, the matchmaker automatically uses Amazon GameLift Servers to find hosting resources and start a new game session for newly formed matches. When using FlexMatch as a standalone service, the matchmaker delivers match results back to your game, which can then start a new game session using your hosting solution.

API operations for FlexMatch are part of the Amazon GameLift Servers service API, which is included in the Amazon SDK and the Amazon Command Line Interface (Amazon CLI). This release includes these updates to support standalone matchmaking:

  • The API resource MatchmakingConfiguration has the following changes:

    • New property, FlexMatchMode indicates whether the matchmaker is being used with Amazon GameLift Servers managed hosting or as standalone matchmaking.

    • Property GameSessionQueueArns is not required when FlexMatchMode is set to standalone.

    • These properties are not used with standalone matchmaking: AdditionalPlayerCount, BackfillMode, GameProperties, GameSessionData.

  • The automatic backfill feature is not available with standalone matchmaking.

Updated SDK versions: Amazon SDK 1.8.95 on GitHub

The list of Amazon EC2 instance types supported by Amazon GameLift Servers now includes three new instance families: C5a, M5a, and R5a. These families consist of AMD compute-optimized instances that are powered by AMD EPYC processors running at frequencies up to 3.3. GHz. The AMD instances are x86 compatible; games that are currently running on Amazon GameLift Servers can be deployed to AMD instance types without alteration. The new instances are available in the following Amazon Regions: US East (N. Virginia and Ohio), US West (Oregon and N. California), Central Canada (Montreal), South America (Sao Paulo), EU Central (Frankfurt), EU West (London and Ireland), Asia Pacific South (Mumbai), Asia Pacific Northeast (Seoul and Tokyo), and Asia Pacific Southeast (Singapore and Sydney).

The new AMD instances include:

  • c5a.large, c5a.xlarge, c5a.2xlarge, c5a.4xlarge, c5a.8xlarge, c5a.12xlarge, c5a.16xlarge, c5a.24xlarge

  • m5a.large, m5a.xlarge, m5a.2xlarge, m5a.4xlarge, m5a.8xlarge, m5a.12xlarge, m5a.16xlarge, m5a.24xlarge

  • r5a.large, r5a.xlarge, r5a.2xlarge, r5a.4xlarge, r5a.8xlarge, r5a.12xlarge, r5a.16xlarge, r5a.24xlarge

Learn more:

Updated SDK versions: Amazon GameLift Servers Server SDK 4.0.2

The new Server SDK version 4.0.2 fixes a known issue with the API operation StartMatchBackfill(). This operation now returns a correct response to a match backfill request.

The issue did not affect the match backfill process, and there is no change to how this feature works. The issue may have impacted log messaging and error handling for match backfill requests.

Download the latest version of the Amazon GameLift Servers Server SDK at Amazon GameLift Servers getting started.

FlexMatch users can now adjust the following default behaviors for the matchmaking process. These customizations are set in a matchmaking rule set. There are no changes to the Amazon GameLift Servers SDKs.

  • Prioritize backfill tickets: You can choose to raise or lower how match backfill tickets are prioritized when searching for acceptable matches. Prioritizing backfill tickets is useful when the auto-backfill feature is enabled. Use the algorithm property backfillPriority.

  • Pre-sort to optimize match consistency and efficiency: Configure your matchmaker to pre-sort the ticket pool before batching tickets for evaluation. By pre-sorting tickets based on key player attributes, your resulting matches tend to have players who are more similar in those attributes. You can also boost efficiency in the evaluation process by pre-sorting on the same attributes that are used in match rules. Use the algorithm property sortByAttributes with the strategy property set to "sorted".

  • Adjust how expansion wait times are triggered: Choose between triggering expansions based on the age of the newest (default) or oldest ticket in an incomplete match. Triggering on the oldest ticket tends to complete matches faster, while triggering on the newest ticket leads to higher match quality. Use the algorithm property expansionAgeSelection.

Updated SDK versions: Amazon GameLift Servers Server SDK 4.0.1

The new Server SDK contains the following updates:

Download the latest version of the Amazon GameLift Servers Server SDK at Amazon GameLift Servers getting started.

Updated SDK versions: Amazon SDK 1.8.36 on GitHub

The Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ solution for low-cost, cloud-based game hosting on Amazon EC2 is now generally available. Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ gives developers the ability to host game servers directly on Amazon EC2 Spot Instances by optimizing their viability for game hosting. Game developers can use Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ with new games or to supplement capacity for existing games. This solution supports the use of containers or other Amazon services such as Amazon Shield and Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS).

This general availability release includes the following updates to the Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ solution:

  • New API operation DescribeGameServerInstances returns information, including status, on all active instances for an Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ game server group.

  • New balancing strategy, ON_DEMAND_ONLY, configures a game server group to use On-Demand Instances only. You can update a game server group's balancing strategy at any time, making it possible to switch between using Spot Instances and On-Demand Instances as needed.

  • The following preview elements have been dropped for general availability:

    • Use of custom sort keys for game server resources. Game servers can be sorted based on registration timestamp.

    • Tagging for game server resources.

Updated SDK versions: Amazon SDK 1.7.310 on GitHub

The Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ feature optimizes the viability of low-cost Spot Instances for use with game hosting. This feature is now extended for customers who want to manage their hosting resources directly rather than through the managed Amazon GameLift Servers service. This solution supports the use of containers or other Amazon services such as Amazon Shield and Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS).

Learn more:

GameTech blog post on Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ

Updated SDK versions: Amazon SDK 1.7.249 on GitHub

You can now take advantage of Amazon resource management tools with Amazon GameLift Servers resources. In particular, all key Amazon GameLift Servers resources—builds, scripts, fleets, game session queues, matchmaking configurations, and matchmaking rule sets—are now assigned Amazon Resource Name (ARN) values. A resource ARN provides a consistent identifier that is unique across all Amazon Regions. They can be used to create resource-specific Amazon Identity and Access Management (IAM) permissions policies. Resources are now assigned an ARN and also the pre-existing resource identifier, which is not Region-specific.

In addition, Amazon GameLift Servers resources now support tagging. You can use tags to organize resources, create IAM permissions policies to manage access to groups of resources, customize Amazon cost breakdowns, etc. When managing tags for Amazon GameLift Servers resources, use the Amazon GameLift Servers API actions TagResource(), UntagResource(), and ListTagsForResource().

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Updated SDK versions: Amazon SDK 1.7.210 on GitHub

Amazon CloudFormation templates for Amazon GameLift Servers

Amazon GameLift Servers resources can now be created and managed through Amazon CloudFormation. The existing Amazon CloudFormation build and fleet templates have been updated to align with the current resources, and new templates are now available for scripts, queues, matchmaking configurations, and matchmaking rule sets. Amazon CloudFormation templates greatly simplify the task of managing groups of related Amazon resources, particularly when deploying games across multiple Regions.

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