What is Amazon GameLift?
Amazon GameLift is a managed service for hosting dedicated multiplayer game servers. The service handles the complete infrastructure: server deployment, scaling based on player counts, and global matchmaking. Developers can focus on the game while AWS manages server operations.
Core Features
- FlexMatch Matchmaking: Rule-based matchmaking for fair player groups by skill, latency, or custom criteria
- Auto-Scaling: Automatic capacity adjustment based on player activity and queues
- Multi-Region Deployment: Game servers in multiple regions for low latency worldwide
- Spot Instances: Up to 70% cost savings by using Spot capacity for non-critical sessions
- Realtime Servers: Lightweight option for less compute-intensive games without custom server builds
Typical Use Cases
Competitive Multiplayer Games
Shooters, MOBAs, or battle royale games require low latency and fair matchmaking. GameLift automatically places players on the nearest server and groups them by skill level.
Session-Based Games
Games with clearly defined rounds benefit from dynamic server allocation. Servers are provisioned only for active sessions and released afterward.
Cross-Platform Gaming
GameLift supports servers for PC, consoles, and mobile in a unified infrastructure with cross-platform matchmaking.
Benefits
- No server administration: AWS handles patching, monitoring, and failover
- Global presence with local servers for minimal latency
- Pay-per-use without upfront hardware investments
- Integration with other AWS services like CloudWatch, S3, and Lambda
Integration with innFactory
As an AWS Reseller, innFactory supports you with Amazon GameLift: architecture design for your game backend infrastructure, FlexMatch configuration for optimal matchmaking, and integration with authentication and leaderboard systems.