Amazon GameLift plugin for Unity guide for server SDK 5.x - Amazon GameLift
About the pluginPlugin workflow

Amazon GameLift plugin for Unity guide for server SDK 5.x

Amazon GameLift provides tools for preparing your multiplayer game servers to work with Amazon GameLift. The Amazon GameLift plugin for Unity makes it easier to integrate Amazon GameLift into your Unity game projects, test your integration with Amazon GameLift Anywhere, and deploy Amazon GameLift resources for cloud hosting.

This plugin uses AWS CloudFormation templates to deploy hosting solutions for common gaming scenarios. Use these solutions as provided or customize them as needed for your games.

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About the plugin

The plugin for Unity provides a streamlined getting started experience for integrating and hosting your Unity multiplayer games with Amazon GameLift. You can take advantage of plugin functionality and pre-built components to quickly get your games up and running.

The plugin adds tools and functionality to the Unity editor. Use the guided workflows to integrate Amazon GameLift into your game project, test it locally, and then deploy the game server to Amazon GameLift cloud hosting.

Use the plugin's pre-built hosting solutions to deploy your game. Set up an Amazon GameLift Anywhere fleet with your local workstation as a host. For cloud hosting, choose from two common deployment scenarios that balance player latency, game session availability, and cost in different ways. One scenario includes a simple FlexMatch matchmaker and rule set. Use these scenarios to put a basic production-ready hosting solution in place, and then optimize and customize as needed.

The plugin includes these components:

  • Plugin modules for the Unity editor. When the plugin is installed, a new main menu item gives you access to Amazon GameLift functionality.

  • C# libraries for the Amazon GameLift service API with client-side functionality.

  • C# libraries for the Amazon GameLift server SDK (version 5.x).

  • Sample game content, including assets and scenes, so you can try out Amazon GameLift even if you don't have a build-ready multiplayer game.

  • Solution configurations, provided as AWS CloudFormation templates, that the plugin uses when deploying your game server to the cloud for hosting.

Plugin workflow

The following steps describe a typical approach to integrating and deploying a game project with the Amazon GameLift plugin for Unity. You complete these steps by working in the Unity editor and your game code.

  1. Create a user profile that links to your AWS account and provides access credentials for a valid account user with permissions to use Amazon GameLift.

  2. Add server code to your game project to establish communication between a running game server and the with Amazon GameLift service.

  3. Add client code to your game project that lets game clients send requests to Amazon GameLift to start or join a game session and then connect to the game server.

  4. Use the Anywhere workflow to set up your local workstation as an Anywhere host for your game server. Launch your game server and client locally, connect to a game session, and test your integration.

  5. Use the EC2 hosting workflow to upload your integrated game server and deploy a cloud hosting solution. When your game server is ready, launch your game client locally, connect to a game session and log in, and play the game.

When working in the plugin, you’ll create and use AWS resources, These actions might incur charges to the AWS account in use. If you’re new to AWS, actions may be covered under the AWS Free Tier.