Amazon GameLift Servers expands instance support with next-generation EC2 instance families

Amazon GameLift Servers now supports Amazon EC2 5th through 8th generation instances, offering enhanced price-performance, efficiency, and flexibility for game server hosting. This update allows developers to leverage the latest advancements in EC2 compute, memory, and networking across three main instance families:

1. General Purpose (M-series): Balanced CPU, memory, and networking for a wide range of game workloads.
2. Compute Optimized (C-series): High-performance compute instances with a 2:1 memory ratio, ideal for CPU-intensive game servers.
3. Memory Optimized (R-Series): Optimized for high-memory workloads with an 8:1 memory ratio, supporting complex simulations and large player sessions.

Each new EC2 generation brings significant improvements:

• 5th Gen: Proven reliability with Intel processors with balanced performance
• 6th Gen: Includes AWS Graviton2 ARM-based options alongside Intel and AMD variants offering enhanced price-performance efficiency.
• 7th Gen: The latest evolution featuring DDR5 memory, enhanced networking, and offering significant performance gains over previous generations.
• 8th Gen: Cutting-edge AWS Graviton4 and Intel Xeon-based instances for demanding workloads

Customers can also choose variants with local storage (d), enhanced networking (n), and different processor architectures (Intel, AMD, Graviton – i/a/g).

This update empowers developers with greater flexibility, scalability, and cost efficiency to optimize game server performance. Customers can now seamlessly transition workloads to newer EC2 generations, leveraging AWS's continuous innovation for building, scaling, and operating multiplayer games globally.

These next-generation instances are available in Amazon GameLift Servers supported regions, except AWS China. For more information on launching fleets with next-generation EC2 instances, visit the Amazon GameLift Servers documentation and EC2 Instance Types overview.