- Egress fees: Gameye includes all bandwidth in capacity pricing. GameLift charges ~$0.09/GB — typically 40-60% of a multiplayer studio's infrastructure bill at scale.
- Engineering overhead: Gameye requires no SDK in your game server binary. GameLift requires the GameLift Server SDK (InitSDK, ProcessReady, OnStartGameSession, OnProcessTerminate) in every build.
- Infrastructure: Gameye runs across 21 providers with automatic cross-provider failover. GameLift runs on AWS only — no failover outside the AWS network.
- Scaling: Gameye starts containers in 0.5 seconds. GameLift cold starts for new EC2 instances take minutes; pre-warmed fleets are faster but accrue idle costs.
What is AWS GameLift?
AWS GameLift is Amazon's managed game server hosting service, part of the broader AWS ecosystem. It provides fleet management, autoscaling, and FlexMatch matchmaking — all running on AWS infrastructure. GameLift's strengths are deep integration with other AWS services, Spot instance support via FleetIQ for cost optimisation, and FlexMatch for rule-based matchmaking.
GameLift requires the GameLift Server SDK (InitSDK, ProcessReady, OnStartGameSession, OnProcessTerminate) in every game server build. Gameye requires no SDK in your game server binary. GameLift charges egress fees that scale with player count. Gameye includes all data transfer in capacity-based pricing. GameLift runs only on AWS with no cross-provider failover.
How much do egress fees add to your bill?
GameLift's compute pricing is competitive. But for multiplayer games with constant player-server communication, egress fees typically account for 40-60% of the total infrastructure bill. AWS charges approximately $0.09/GB for the first 10TB, with lower tiers at volume. The cost scales directly with player success.
Gameye includes all data transfer in capacity-based pricing. There is no separate bandwidth charge. Doborog Games reduced server costs by over 60% after switching to Gameye, primarily by eliminating bandwidth charges.
Unreal Engine studios feel it most
Unreal Engine dedicated servers generate significant bandwidth — UDP game traffic, voice data, and telemetry all add up at scale. Studios running Unreal Engine on GameLift consistently report bandwidth costs as a major line item, sometimes exceeding compute costs once player numbers grow.
Gameye includes all data transfer in capacity-based pricing with no engine-specific surcharge. Chivalry 2 (Unreal Engine 4, Torn Banner Studios) handled a 250,000-player launch on Gameye with zero downtime.
How does Gameye compare to AWS GameLift feature by feature?
| Criteria | Gameye | AWS GameLift |
|---|---|---|
| Game server SDK | ✓ None — no code in your server binary | GameLift Server SDK required (InitSDK, ProcessReady, etc.) |
| Egress fees | ✓ None — included in pricing | ~$0.09/GB (first 10TB; lower tiers at scale) |
| Container start time | 0.5 seconds | Varies — cold start: minutes; pre-warmed fleet: faster |
| Infrastructure | 21 providers, 200+ datacenters — bare metal + cloud | AWS only |
| Failover | ✓ Automatic cross-provider | Single provider — no cross-provider failover |
| DDoS protection | Game-aware profiles across all 21 providers (OVHCloud, GCore, Servers.com) | AWS Shield Standard (free, automatic); Shield Advanced $3K/mo + 1-year commitment |
| Pricing | $0.07/vCPU/hr, publicly stated, no egress | Usage + egress + transfer — complex billing |
| Uptime SLA | 99.99% — publicly stated | 99.9% (GameLift SLA) |
| FlexMatch | ✓ Documented integration | ✓ Native (built into GameLift) |
| Bare metal | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Vendor lock-in | None — provider-agnostic | AWS ecosystem |
| DevOps overhead | Minimal — single API | Fleet management, scaling rules, SDK integration |
| Sessions at scale | 120M+ sessions, 1M peak CCU | Large-scale proven (AWS infrastructure) |
| Onboarding | Sandbox in 24 hours | AWS account + fleet configuration + SDK integration |
How do the platforms handle DDoS and failover?
DDoS protection
All 21 of Gameye's infrastructure providers have game-aware DDoS profiles that understand UDP game traffic and do not drop legitimate packets during attacks. Game-aware DDoS protection is an entry requirement for every Gameye provider.
GameLift runs on AWS Shield Standard (free, automatic) for common network and transport-layer attacks. AWS Shield Standard is general-purpose infrastructure protection — it is not tuned for the UDP-heavy traffic patterns of competitive multiplayer games. AWS Shield Advanced costs $3,000/month with a 1-year commitment, plus $0.05/GB data transfer fees.
Multi-provider failover
Gameye runs across 21 providers in 200+ datacenters with automatic cross-provider failover. If one provider has issues, sessions continue on healthy capacity automatically. GameLift runs only on AWS. If AWS has a regional outage, there is no cross-provider failover option.
Using AWS FlexMatch?
If your game uses FlexMatch for matchmaking, you do not need to rebuild it. Gameye integrates with FlexMatch in STANDALONE mode. A Lambda bridge receives the MatchmakingSucceeded event and calls the Gameye Session API instead of GameLift. Your matchmaking rules stay untouched.
Studios with existing AWS credits or commit-based pricing can bring their AWS account to Gameye and run on their existing credits while preparing the transition. Gameye switches studios to its own infrastructure seamlessly when credits or the commitment period is exhausted.
Gameye as an alternative to AWS GameLift
- Predictable costs without egress surprises
- No SDK in your game server binary
- Sub-second scaling for launch spikes
- Multi-provider redundancy and automatic failover
- Game-aware DDoS protection included at no extra cost
- Provider-agnostic infrastructure — no vendor lock-in
- Publicly stated pricing you can model before a sales call
- A sandbox running in 24 hours
- AWS credits or commitments to use up first — bring your AWS account to Gameye and switch over when they're exhausted
- Deep investment in the AWS ecosystem
- Tight integration requirements with other AWS services
- DevOps resources for fleet management and SDK maintenance
- Egress fees acceptable as a cost of doing business
- Existing Spot instance / FleetIQ workflows you want to preserve
What do studios say about Gameye?
"It's reassuring to know that we could scale up indefinitely as we prepare for platform events and sales."
Read case study: 60%+ cost reduction →"We felt there was a personal relationship, and if there was a problem, we knew Gameye would be there."
Read case study: 250K players at launch, zero downtime →Key terms
Frequently asked questions: Gameye vs AWS GameLift
Is Gameye a good alternative to AWS GameLift?
Yes. Gameye addresses GameLift's main pain points: egress fees, scaling speed, SDK overhead, and single-provider lock-in. Studios using Gameye report 40-60% cost savings and sub-second scaling compared to GameLift.
How fast does Gameye scale compared to GameLift?
Gameye starts new containers in 0.5 seconds on average. AWS GameLift provisioning time depends on fleet configuration — pre-warmed fleets respond faster, but cold starts for new EC2 instances take minutes.
Does Gameye charge data transfer or egress fees?
No. Gameye includes all data transfer in its capacity-based pricing. Studios pay for compute resources, not bandwidth — eliminating the "success tax" where costs spike with player growth.
Do I need a Gameye SDK in my game server?
No. Gameye requires no SDK in your game server binary. Remove the GameLift Server SDK (InitSDK, ProcessReady, OnStartGameSession, OnProcessTerminate) and don't replace it with anything. Your server just needs to listen on the port provided in session metadata.
Can I keep using FlexMatch if I switch to Gameye?
Yes. Gameye integrates with FlexMatch in STANDALONE mode. A Lambda bridge receives MatchmakingSucceeded events and calls the Gameye Session API. Your matchmaking rules stay untouched.
What happens if a cloud provider has an outage?
Gameye runs multi-provider infrastructure across 21 providers. If one has issues, the orchestrator automatically fails over to healthy capacity. GameLift runs only on AWS — no cross-provider failover.
Can I migrate from GameLift to Gameye?
Yes. See the step-by-step GameLift migration guide. Studios typically run both platforms in parallel during migration, shifting traffic region by region. Your Docker images work on Gameye with no Gameye-specific SDK.
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