The Game Developer’s Guide to re:Invent 2023

AWS re:Invent 2023 is fast approaching, and AWS for Games is gearing up to welcome attendees from around the globe at the annual conference for developers in Las Vegas November 27 – December 1. This year, in addition to announcements unveiled during re:Invent keynotes, attendees can check out an exciting array of panel discussions, presentations, hands-on learning experiences, and more, curated by the AWS for Games team.

The event programming is designed to spark discussion and debate on some of the biggest challenges and trends facing game developers and the larger industry. Programming includes sessions led by Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers such as Riot Games, Epic Games, and Nintendo Systems. Attendees can enjoy a combination of customer breakout lectures, intimate 60-minute chalk talk sessions with AWS experts on real-world architecture challenges, two-hour hands-on workshops where small groups solve problems using AWS services, and 20-minute lightning talks covering key industry themes.

In addition, AWS for Games will host a VIP networking event on Tuesday, November 28, from 6:00-8:30pm at Villa Azur, where guests can network, participate in fun, interactive gaming experiences (including an AI photo booth), and enjoy food and drinks. AWS encourages you to register early here.

Don’t forget to also pop by the AWS for Industry Pavilion, booth #580 on the AWS re:Invent expo floor in the Venetian, to check out the AWS for Games interactive demo where you can play multiplayer video games built by AWS customers while learning about the AWS services used to create and deploy them.

If you’re in need of session recommendations at re:Invent, the team has compiled an AWS for Games re:Invent Attendee Guide and provided key session highlights. You can also download the AWS Events mobile app for iOS or Android to plan and navigate your re:Invent experience. If you haven’t already registered, there’s still time to do so. Review your options and reserve your spot today for sessions and events you’d like to attend here.

AWS for Games re:Invent 2023 Schedule Highlights: 

Monday, November 27

8:30 AM–10:30 AM:  GAM302: Workshop: Build scalable cross-platform game backends on AWS
Join us for an interactive workshop on deploying a secure and scalable end-to-end game backend solution on AWS with cross-platform identity and authentication, serverless and containerized backend microservice templates, and game engine integration.

10:30 AM–11:30 AM: GAM305: Breakout Session: Scaling Warhammer 40,000: Darktide from 0 to 100,000 players in 1 hour
Learn from Fatshark how a combination of a serverless backend architecture, Amazon GameLift, and AWS Global Accelerator can scale a game for millions of players.

11:30 AM–12:30 PM:  GAM301: Chalk Talk: Build cost-effective video games with AWS Graviton
See an Unreal Engine multiplayer game running on x86 and deployed on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) and learn about the steps you can take to introduce Graviton instances into your compute mix.

12:00 PM–1:00 PM:  ANT309: Chalk Talk: Optimizing gaming experience with ML and real-time personalization
Learn how to build a near real-time pipeline that can ingest data and update a machine learning (ML) model to provide real-time recommendations to create customized content and influence player behaviors.

3:00 PM–4:00 PM: ANT320: Breakout Session: How Electronic Arts modernized its data platform with Amazon EMR
Learn how Electronic Arts modernized its data platform by migrating to Amazon EMR, including HDFS to Amazon S3 and 500+ ETL jobs to Apache Spark on Amazon EMR.

Tuesday, November 28

5:00 PM–6:00 PM:  SVS308: Breakout Session: Building low-latency, event-driven applications 
Second Dinner, the creator of Marvel Snap, covers the serverless backend design and implementation of AWS Lambda functions for handling HTTP requests, data processing, and integration with AWS services. Learn about event-driven workflows using Amazon EventBridge.

Wednesday, November 29

9:00 AM–11:00 AM: GAM401: Workshop: Operationalize generative AI applications using LLMOps
Join us for this interactive workshop on generative AI and game development and learn how to operationalize text and image generation applications on AWS using large language model operations (LLMOps) for continuous integration, continuous deployment, and continuous tuning (CI/CD/CT).

10:00 AM–11:00 AM:  GAM306: Breakout Session: Modernization of Nintendo eShop: microservice and platform engineering
Learn how Nintendo moved from a monolithic to micro-services architecture to power the Nintendo eShop found on the Switch and other Nintendo platforms.

1:30 PM–2:30 PM: GAM304: Breakout Session: Exiting the data center: A League of Legends and VALORANT story
Join Riot Games for a walk-through of what it took to move two of the largest games from on-premises to the cloud without interruption.

1:30 PM–2:30 PM: GAM303: Chalk Talk: Deploy multiplayer games with compute, containers, and Amazon GameLift
Learn how to use a serverless architecture to host a backend and how to choose the right game server hosting technology, including managed solutions like Amazon GameLift, container-based solutions on Amazon EKS or Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS), or hosting on virtual machines with Amazon EC2.

3:00 PM–4:00 PM:  GAM307: Breakout Session: Scaling a multiplayer game into the millions with Mortal Kombat 1
Sit down with Warner Bros. Games to learn about the backend architecture needed to scale the highly successful updated version of Mortal Kombat 1 for millions of players worldwide.

5:30 PM–6:30 PM: DAT334: Breakout Session: Improving user experience at Epic Games using Amazon Timestream
Epic Games transformed gaming with Unreal Engine, a 3D creation engine used across industries. Learn how the company leveraged Timestream to build a scalable solution for monitoring and deriving insights from the play time of millions of gamers across its game catalog.

Thursday, November 30

11:00 AM–12:00 PM: STG203: Breakout Session: What’s new with AWS Backup
Join AWS and Supercell as we explore the new features of AWS Backup. Get practical tips for securing, managing, and auditing your data protection policies and hear from peers about how AWS-managed data protection services offer in-depth defense for data at rest and in transit.

These sessions and events represent only a fraction of available opportunities to explore at re:Invent this November. Stay tuned to the AWS for Games Blog and LinkedIn for real-time updates from re:Invent. We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas!