AWS gears up for action-packed Gamescom and Devcom 2024

More than 320,000 gamers and games industry professionals are expected to gather in Cologne, Germany, next week as Gamescom gets underway. One of the world’s most anticipated games industry events, the conference brings together developers, publishers, hardware manufacturers, and cloud providers from around the world alongside the gaming community to celebrate industry achievements and discuss the trends shaping the industry’s future.

Historically, it’s also been a forum for launching new game development offerings, making partnership announcements, and debuting compelling technology demos. Devcom, the official game developer event of Gamescom, is an annual highlight, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) is preparing to make a splash at both events. Here’s what to expect:

AWS on-site activities

Aligning purpose-built game development services and solutions from AWS and AWS Partners against six solution areas, including Cloud Game Development, Game Servers, Live Operations, Game Security, Game Analytics, and Game Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), AWS helps developers build, run, and grow their games. AWS is participating in a range of Devcom-related activities inside and outside the Confex Exhibitor Hall, such as:

Live product demonstrations

Visitors to the AWS booth (E2) can check out real-time demos of game industry-specific AWS technology led by industry experts and technology partners. Among the impressive lineup is a generative AI kiosk featuring Ada, an in-game, non-player character (NPC) created using the MetaHuman framework in Unreal Engine 5 and Amazon Bedrock, a toolset for building generative AI applications. The demo illustrates how the technology can make NPCs more dynamic and intelligent to enhance the player experience.

A second demo dives deep into using Stable Diffusion within Amazon Bedrock to generate images for your mood boards, and to seamlessly integrate these generated images into Miro a popular online collaborative whiteboard platform. At the booth, AWS Partners EPAM Systems and Revolgy will also demo solutions for generative AI and cloud game development. Click the link to find out more about AWS booth demos or to schedule a meeting with an AWS industry expert at the show.

Panels and talks

AWS for Games leaders and partners will participate in a range of Devcom sessions, including:

Monday, August 19

• A Fireside Chat on Generative AI in Gaming with Electronic Arts (EA) Head of Technology Partnerships Jeff Skelton and EPAM Systems Head of Gaming Solutions Vitalii Vashchuk from 11:30-12:00 CET on Stage 12 – (Confex Lvl-2).
• Game Servers on AWS: How to Select for Success led by AWS for Games Senior Solutions Architect Benjamin Meyer and AWS for Games Solutions Architect Rieha Burrell from 15:00-15:30 CET on Stage 4 – (Confex Lvl-1).

Tuesday, August 20

• Accelerating Game Development with AWS and Revolgy featuring AWS for Games Sr. Solutions Architect Chris Blackwell and Revolgy Senior Account Manager James Turner from 11:30-12:00 CET on Stage 4 – (Confex Lvl-1).

Networking events

The AWS team invites attendees to unwind after a busy day on the conference floor at one of many customer and partner events, including:

Monday, August 19

• The fourth annual Celebrating Women in Games event, hosted by AWS, Amazon Games, and Women in Games International (WIGI) takes place on the 27^th floor of Kölnsky from 18:00-21:00 CET and kicks off with a panel discussion led by WIGI CEO Joanie Kraut. After the panel, participants are invited to join a reception and networking event, followed by an after-party sponsored by DoIT. Space is limited, so be sure to reserve a spot.
• Pragma’s Backend Services House networking happy hour runs from 17:00-20:00 CET. Register on the website to see the location.

Tuesday, August 20

• A Community Clubhouse learning and networking event will offer sessions from industry leaders and AWS speakers from 8:00-18:30 CET. Register here.
• Join CleverTap Gaming and AWS for an immersive, inspiring experience with some of the brightest minds in mobile and console gaming at the Product x LiveOps Symposium, which takes place from 16:00-17:30 CET.
• From 19:00-22:00 CET, AccelByte, Unity, Edgegap, mod.io, Paddle, and AWS are hosting an exciting evening where developers can connect, enjoy food and drinks, and explore solutions. Register here.

Wednesday, August 21

• Visit with Deconstructor of Fun, AppsFlyer, Heroic Labs, and other game development professionals for an intimate whiskey, wine, or water tasting at The Grid Bar starting at 16:00 CET. Register here.

New ebooks for game developers

At Devcom 2024, AWS for Games is highlighting five new ebooks for game developers that touch on everything from generative AI to delivering outstanding gamer experiences. They also illustrate how to maximize the use of Amazon GameLift and game servers and reimagine game development with the cloud, as well as the anatomy of LiveOps games. See the following for more details:

	The 2024 AWS guide to generative AI for game developers is designed to help studios better understand and unlock the advantages of generative AI applications across three key areas, discover thought starters for role-relevant use cases, and much more.
	Deliver superior gaming experiences guides developers on using AWS purpose-built services and solutions to empower development teams, spur innovation, and build immersive worlds that give gamers the experiences they deserve.
	A guide to Amazon GameLift and game servers provides tips for building worlds that players don’t want to leave, even during peak hours, using an AWS server hosting option that meets your unique needs, including the use of a fully managed solution with Amazon GameLift, and more.
	Reinventing game development explores the transformative potential of AWS technologies for games and the workforce behind them, providing insights into the ways Sony Entertainment, Epic Games, Ubisoft, and other studios are revolutionizing their workflows with cloud-based solutions.
	Game on for LiveOps examines the anatomy of LiveOps games, offering a closer look into how AWS products, services, and capabilities help developers build with a managed backend, understand their players, and extend player lifetime value.

Innovative customer applications

Game studios worldwide are combining advanced 3D game development technology with purpose-built global infrastructure capabilities to build, run, and grow their games. In advance of Gamescom, AWS is excited to highlight these stories, which feature:

• Kinetix, a technology startup using AWS to bring generative AI tools directly to players
• Azur Games, a mobile game publisher and developer that migrated all its game analytics data to ClickHouse Cloud on AWS
• Gamer Arena, a technology startup that minimized DevOps demands and unlocked new generative AI potential leveraging AWS
• Omeda Studios, a game developer that swapped out the ‘Predecessor’ backend in less than five months using Amazon GameLift and Pragma
• Singularity 6, the creators of ‘Palia’ that used Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) and Karpenter to conquer cross-regional gaming
• HUDstats, an esports data and analytics company that moved from OpenAI to Amazon Bedrock to advance esports storytelling
• Center for Brain Health at The University of Texas at Dallas and its collaboration with AWS to grow its Charisma program using generative AI and cloud gaming
• Supercell, a leading mobile game company that significantly reduced downtime and provided uninterrupted player experiences using Amazon Aurora
• Vuvy, a gaming company that migrated its entire infrastructure to AWS in 45 days
• Freedom Games, a developer of a platform for the indie game community with AWS services providing the core infrastructure

Omdia games industry benchmark recognition

In addition to all our Gamescom activities, AWS for Games is proud to share that in July, Omdia recognized AWS as a Cloud Platforms for Games Leader in its annual Omdia Market Radar report. The report explores the cloud services market in the games industry and offers game developers and publishers insights and recommendations based on its research and analysis. AWS for Games placed highest in six out of the seven capabilities evaluated. Download and read the report.

Conclusion

Gamescom is one of a few opportunities each year where the global gaming and game development community get to converge, immerse themselves in the latest gaming experiences, and interact with industry game changers. We can’t wait to see what’s in store this year!

To stay up to date with the latest Gamescom and Devcom developments from AWS, visit our AWS for Games Devcom webpage. Find out how game developers are transforming game workloads and experiences with AWS by signing up to meet with one of our industry experts at the show.

We hope to see you there!