Get Amazon GameLift development tools
Amazon GameLift provides a set of SDKs that you can use with your game hosting solutions. Use Amazon GameLift SDKs to add functionality to game servers, game clients, and backend services that interact with the Amazon GameLift service.
For the latest information about Amazon GameLift SDK versions and SDK compatibility, see Amazon GameLift release notes.
For game servers
Integrate and build your 64-bit game servers with the Amazon GameLift server SDK. Game servers use the server SDK to communicate with the Amazon GameLift service to start and manage game sessions. For information on integrating the server SDK, see the topics in Preparing games for Amazon GameLift.
Development operating systems
The Amazon GameLift server SDK supports the following development environments:
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Windows
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Linux
Programming languages
The Amazon GameLift server SDK is available in the following languages. Download Server SDKs
C++ server SDK
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C# server SDK (versions may support .NET 4 and .NET 6)
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Go
Game engines
Use language-specific SDKs with any engine that supports C++, C#, or Go libraries. In
addition, Amazon GameLift offers plugins for the following game engines. Download Amazon GameLift plugins
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Unity
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C# server SDK plugin for Unity is a lightweight plugin with pre-built libraries that you can install using the Unity package manager. Use this plugin with the following Unity versions: 2020.3 LTS, 2021.3 LTS and 2022.3 LTS for Windows and Mac OS. It supports Unity's .NET Framework and .NET Standard profiles, with .NET Standard 2.1 and .NET 4.x.
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Standalone plugin for Unity 2021.3 LTS and 2022.3 LTS is a full-featured plugin with the C# SDK libraries built for Unity and GUI elements for configuring and deploying Amazon GameLift resources for hosting.
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Unreal Engine
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C++ server SDK plugin for Unreal is a lightweight plugin consisting of C++ Unreal source code that you can build into libraries for use with Unreal Engine versions 4, 5, and 5.1.
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Standalone plugin for Unreal Engine 5.0, 5.1, and 5.2 is a full-featured plugin with the C++ for Unreal server SDK libraries and AWS SDK. The plugin is installed in the Unreal editor, with UI elements and supporting materials for configuring and deploying Amazon GameLift resources for hosting.
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Game server runtime operating systems
The Amazon GameLift server SDK supports game servers that are built to run on the following platforms:
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Note
Amazon Linux 2 (AL2) will reach end of support on June 30, 2025. See more details in the Amazon Linux 2 FAQs
. For game servers that are hosted on AL2 and use Amazon GameLift server SDK 4.x., first update the game server build to server SDK 5.x, and then deploy to AL2023 instances. See Migrate to Amazon GameLift server SDK 5.x.
For game client services
Create a 64-bit backend service for your game clients using the AWS SDK with
the Amazon GameLift API. Your backend service handles client-side interactions with the Amazon GameLift to
start new game sessions, join players to games, and other tasks. Download the AWS SDK
For more information about using the AWS SDK with Amazon GameLift, see the following resources:
For Realtime Servers
Configure and deploy Realtime servers to host your multiplayer games. To allow your
game clients to connect to Realtime servers, use the Amazon GameLift Realtime Client SDK. Game
clients use this SDK to exchange messages with a Realtime server and with other game
clients that connect to the server. To get started, download the Amazon GameLift Realtime Client SDK
SDK support
The Realtime Client SDK contains source for the following languages:
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C# (.NET)
Development environments
Build the SDK from source as needed for the following supported development operating systems and game engines:
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Operating systems – Windows, Linux, Android, iOS
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Game engines – Unity, engines that support C# libraries
Game server operating systems
You can deploy Realtime servers onto hosting resources that run on the following platforms:
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Note
AL2 is nearing end of support. See more details in the Amazon Linux 2 FAQs
.
