AWS for Games Blog
Make the most of AWS re:Invent 2020 – Game Tech Industry Guide
AWS re:Invent routinely fills several Las Vegas venues with standing-room only crowds, but this year we are bringing it to you with a free all-virtual event. This year’s conference is gearing up to be our biggest yet and we have an exciting program planned for the games industry. See how AWS experts and talented members of the games industry are using cloud technology to transform their businesses and innovate on the behalf of the player with five keynotes, 18 leadership sessions, and over 500 breakout sessions beginning from November 30.
For Game Tech attendees looking to get the most out of AWS re:Invent, follow the steps below:
- Register for re:Invent.
- Read our curated Game Tech Attendee Guide for helpful information on all available games related content, as well as logistics and lots of other fun activities.
- Check back on this post regularly, as we’ll continually update it to reflect the newest information.
Behind great games, developers of all sizes are using AWS Game Tech to build faster, operate smarter, and create immersive experiences for players. At AWS re:Invent hear from industry leading engineers, developers, and decision makers who are utilizing cloud technology to invent and deliver the next generation of games, including Sony Worldwide Studios (WWS), Zynga, Ubisoft, and Gameloft. Learn first-hand how they are breaking free from traditional on-premises solutions, moving game production processes to the cloud, using data and analytics to better understand player experiences, and building connected worlds that scale to millions of players at launch and support milli-second low latency multiplayer sessions, wherever and however they play.
Download the full Game Tech Attendee Guide to get further information on all games industry related sessions, activities, and ‘how to re:Invent’. Here’s some session highlights below:
Games industry sessions available now on demand
GAM301 – How Zynga modernized mobile analytics with Amazon Redshift RA3
Discover how Zynga modernized its mobile game platform and leveled up its analytics and data science efforts with AWS. In this session, Bharath Anandaram, Technology Lead of Data Engineering at Zynga, shares how the company migrated data generated by tens of millions of players from existing infrastructure to Amazon Redshift. Leveraging its RA3 instances, Zynga rapidly increased query performance while simultaneously reducing operational overhead and costs. Learn about the analytics solution that supports hit franchises like Words With Friends and Zynga Poker with AWS services including Amazon Kinesis, Amazon Redshift, and Amazon S3, enabling Zynga to personalize games and increase engagement.
GAM302 – Gameloft: A zero downtime data lake migration deep dive
Gameloft is a leading mobile games publisher with millions of games downloaded every day. With a history spanning two decades, Gameloft is at the forefront of mobile trends, adapting to new technologies to innovate and provide the best gaming experience. In this session, Business Intelligence Technical Manager Alexandru Voinescu shares how Gameloft continues to prepare for tomorrow by modernizing its on-premises data infrastructure and migrating to AWS. Learn how Gameloft seamlessly transitioned over 250 servers and 1.5 petabytes of data with zero downtime and quick rollbacks, ensuring data consistency while processing more than 3 billion events daily using AWS data lake services including Amazon S3, Amazon Kinesis, Amazon EMR, and more.
ZDC202 – Creating a game development pipeline on AWS
COVID-19 has many game developers asking themselves if it’s possible to successfully develop games without returning to a studio. Come listen to Denis Dyack discuss Apocalypse Studio’s cloud-first approach and explore the components of its game development pipeline, built completely on AWS. Learn how to leverage AWS game tech services, like Amazon Lumberyard and Amazon GameLift, while using AWS Lambda, Amazon S3, and high-powered G4 instances to power a remote workstation, creating a game development pipeline that runs without requiring the return to a studio.
Games industry sessions still to come!
GAM303 – Ubisoft: Building a multi-platform multiplayer game on AWS
Ubisoft is a leading creator and publisher of interactive entertainment, responsible for world-renowned game franchises including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s video game series. In this session, Ubisoft Live Operations Manager Naomi Barnes and Cloud Development Engineer Marie Laurent share how Ubisoft is preparing to launch its upcoming competitive sports game, Roller Champions, on AWS. Learn more about the serverless, containerized architecture behind this new multi-platform multiplayer game, and see how Ubisoft is leveraging AWS services (including Amazon GameLift, Amazon ECS, Amazon DynamoDB, and Amazon ElastiCache) to provide a highly performant and reliable experience to players around the world while reducing operational costs.
GAM304 – How Sony Interactive Entertainment renders with AWS
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) Worldwide Studios is a diverse network of highly successful and passionate game development studios and support functions, responsible for creating some of the world’s most well-known PlayStation games. In this session, SIE Cloud Infrastructure Project Manager Asghar Nisar and Engineer Andy Taylor share how SIE is modernizing its existing infrastructure to remotely render visual images and effects using AWS. See how AWS Thinkbox Deadline Amazon EC2 G4 and P3dn graphics instances can be used to assist artists in spending more time iterating on creative work rather than waiting for rendering workloads to complete.
GAM305 – Epic Games supports creators during COVID with Unreal and AWS
Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company and provider of 3D engine technology and is responsible for Fortnite, one of the world’s largest games with over 350 million players. Epic develops Unreal Engine, which powers the world’s leading games and is used across industries including film and television, automotive, and simulation. In this session, Marc Petit, general manager of Unreal Engine, shares how Epic is continuously evolving to support creators in delivering cutting-edge content despite challenges associated with COVID-19. Learn how Unreal is breaking free from on-premises infrastructure and leveraging AWS to provide remote workstations and rapidly scale rendering workloads using AWS Thinkbox and Amazon EC2 G4 instances.