AWS for Games debuts Guide to Generative AI for Game Developers, and more at GDC 2024

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming industries, a seismic shift that was certainly felt at the 2024 Game Developer Conference (GDC) held last week in San Francisco at the Moscone Convention Center. In addition to showcasing its latest technology for cloud-based game development, Amazon Web Services (AWS) for Games highlighted several generative AI advancements and resources for developers, including the 2024 AWS Guide to Generative AI for Game Developers.

The new eBook dives into the ways generative AI is igniting a new era of innovation, from faster game development to enabling more engaging player experiences and streamlining publishing operations. It was crafted to provide studios with essential background and guidance on practical generative AI capabilities, examine the technology stack, discover game developer use cases, and more. Check it out, and follow the recap below for a full rundown of AWS for Games activities at GDC 2024.

AWS Demos

Throughout GDC, AWS generative AI specialists were on hand to demonstrate how large language models (LLM) and generative AI services enable non-player characters (NPCs) to be more dynamic and intelligent in the Play and Learn Lounge. The Titan Image Demo showcased advanced techniques that can be used to solve real-world image asset creation tasks using generative AI and Amazon Bedrock. The Dynamic NPC Dialog Demo highlighted Ada, an example for building an in-game non-player character (NPC) as a generative AI application, using Unreal Engine MetaHuman by Epic Games. This technology enables player interactions with NPCs to be more dynamic, and intelligent, thereby enhancing the overall player experience though generative AI powered by Amazon Bedrock. The Gilded Mansion Demo featured a mystery solving game that was built with AWS Bedrock and Anthropic Claude to drive player conversations with in-game characters in search of clues to solve a crime. Visitors to the Play and Learn Lounge could also play video games streamed from Amazon Luna while learning about the studios and services involved in the development process.

AWS Session Highlights

• Harnessing generative AI to create unlimited content within game worlds: Saltwater Games details the generative AI architecture of “Resurgence,” an upcoming free-to-play, post-apocalyptic, open-world crafting and survival game. Learn about the technology behind the in-game ThorAI (powered by Amazon Bedrock), and get a dive deep into fully voiced, interactive in-game NPCs in the companion mobile game Missing. Explore real-world use cases for a variety of generative AI services and solutions.
• Using generative AI for content moderation in gaming at scale: Machine learning and generative AI are being leveraged across gaming for the content moderation of audio chat, text messages, images, videos, livestreams, and more. Find out how human moderators are using the technology to enhance decision-making efficiency while minimizing the volume of harmful content requiring manual review, and how it’s fostering a healthy gaming community while also keeping players engaged.
• Capturing the magical realm of data generated by Baldur’s Gate 3: Baldur’s Gate 3 is built on an intricate storyline heavily affected by player choices. Explore how Larian Studios added AWS to the party to capture different representations of the complex set of state, which describes players’ positions and flow through their individual stories. From the complexities of handling millions of cross-saves uploaded by users through gameplay analytics, see how these data capture systems service both the players and developers and scale from the Early Access release through to the highly successful launch 3 years later.
• Building and scaling MONOPOLY GO!, the #1 casual game launch of 2023: Scopely’s Monopoly Go! launched in April 2023 and quickly grew to become the world’s #1 casual mobile game, surpassing $1B in revenue within six months. Join the game’s architects for a conversation on the architectural and design considerations underpinning the game, the AWS services used to help scale it, and lessons learned along the way.
• The future of game development with Bungie Founder Alexander Seropian: Join Look North World Founder Alexander Seropian (also the original founder of Bungie) for a fireside chat offering a closer look at the game development company building new experiences in the Fortnite universe using the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). He’ll also cover lessons learned throughout his development career, the opportunities new approaches present, and the importance of building with the cloud and focusing on fun, not technology.
• The PM’s dilemma – Striking a healthy balance when managing live games: Product managers must be more efficient than ever in deploying resources and spending their time. Managing live games requires a balance of retaining mature players with evergreen content, personalizing offers, attracting new players, and getting them into your core loop as quickly as possible. Join CleverTap Gaming and AWS for Games for an overview of the approaches game teams can take when choosing how to power LiveOps and manage their game.
• The Community Clubhouse Developer Summit: Building Safe and Prosocial Game Platforms: Join Netflix Games Head of Trust & Safety Christina Camilleri, Roblox Sr. Director of Trust & Safety Operations Joel Silk, Keywords Studios Head of Trust & Safety Kaila Jarvis, Spry Fox Chief Creative Officer Daniel Cook, and AWS Head of Game Tech Business and Strategy for EMEA Shayan Sanyal for a thought-provoking discussion centered on a pivotal question: What if we integrated safety directly into game platform design, rather than addressing toxicity and abuse as afterthoughts? Explore how platforms, when equipped with features intentionally designed to prevent abuse, can help in enhancing player satisfaction and boosting player retention and engagement.

AWS Events

On Monday evening, AWS, Amazon Games and Women in Games International (WIGI) co-hosted a Women in Games event at the Minna Gallery. It kicked off with a panel discussion led by Joanie Kraut, CEO of WIGI, with insights from Susan Cummings, CEO of Tiny Rebel Games; Christina Seelye, CEO of Maximum Entertainment; and Marie Ablaza, Recruiter at Netflix Games Studio. The gathering served as an opportunity to connect with industry peers, while also honoring the accomplishments of those who have promoted diversity and inclusion and advanced opportunities for women and femme-identifying individuals in the games industry.

At the AWS for Games Partner Showcase held on Wednesday night, AWS thought leaders, game studios, and technology partners came together to discuss the latest game technology used to build, innovate, and maximize the growth of today’s games. The event featured 30-minute panel sessions covering the top trends and technology around generative AI, cloud game development, and game backends. Speakers included representatives from AAA studios Epic Games and Warner Bros Games Avalanche Software, and innovative startups like Sprocket Games and UneeQ.

Partner News

Heroic Labs announced an open-source, native integration between their industry leading game server, Nakama, and Amazon GameLift, the dedicated game server management service from AWS. This direct integration fuses the strengths of both services to create a seamless, powerful platform for game developers and an unparalleled experience for players. Learn how to get started and elevate session-based multiplayer to new heights.

Following a rigorous technical validation and assessment process, AWS has also officially designated Pragma as an AWS Select Technology Partner. Regarding the announcement, Pragma CTO Chris Cobb said, “Our deep integration with the AWS ecosystem allows us to deliver fast and reliable deployment, testing and monitoring for our studios.”

New solution launches and updates

Generative AI

AWS launched two new generative AI solutions: Guidance for Dynamic Non-Player Character (NPC) Dialogue on AWS (update with sample code) helps game developers automate the process of creating an NPC for their games, and the associated infrastructure, using Unreal Engine MetaHuman, Large Language Models Operations (LLMOps), and generative AI to improve NPC conversational skills. Partner solution PlusMusic Adaptive Music Platform, powered by AI, automatically maps music to moods, themes, and experiences, helping developers create dynamic, immersive audio landscapes for digital worlds; developers can choose from a library of 375k+ fully licensed tracks, simplifying the music licensing process and saving time.

In addition to showcasing generative AI solutions at GDC, AWS for Games launched several other offerings and updates aimed at helping customers build, run, and grow their games. A comprehensive breakout and applicable use cases can be found below.

Community Health

1. Guidance for Responsible Content Moderation with AI Services on AWS (sample code) demonstrates how to use AI to moderate user-generated content (UGC), with more accuracy and cost savings versus other methods.
2. The GGWP Platform partner solution provides intuitive tools to protect and nurture game communities and create more positive player experiences.

Centralized Game Analytics

1. The ClickHouse Cloud partner solution provides an extraordinarily fast, seamlessly scalable and easy-to-use online analytical database created for massive data volumes and real-time query responses.
2. The GameAnalytics Data Suite partner solution offers comprehensive and cost-effective data solutions that help developers save time building their own data pipelines.

Game Infrastructure for Session-Based Games

1. Guidance for Game Server Hosting Using Agones and Open Match on Amazon EKS (sample code) automates the setup of global game servers, providing step-by-step instructions for configuring a Kubernetes cluster that orchestrates the Agones and OpenMatch open source frameworks on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS).
2. Guidance for Multiplayer Session-Based Game Hosting on AWS (updated architecture and sample code), which helps developers get started with global-scale multiplayer game development using Amazon GameLift, was updated to integrate with the Custom Game Backend Framework for cross-platform support.

Player Insights

1. Guidance for AI-Driven Player Insights on AWS (sample code) automates the process for building an end-to-end machine learning (ML) pipeline, that takes labeled player data and automatically builds, trains, tunes, and deploys the best ML model for predicting player behavior, and gaining player insights.

Version Control & Digital Asset Management

1. Guidance for Building Perforce Helix Core on AWS (updated architecture) helps game developers deploy Perforce Helix Core, a popular version management tool, with high availability across multiple AWS Regions, including secure connectivity from on-premises data centers and remote clients.
2. Guidance for Intelligent Identification of 2D/3D Assets on AWS helps game studios automatically identify and manage 2D/3D assets using AI/ML, saving time and improving accuracy versus manually processing digital assets.

Workstations

1. HP Anyware with Epic Games Unreal Engine 5 for Windows 2022, a virtual desktop partner solution, brings the latest offering in On-Demand Game Development.

A big thanks to everyone at AWS, as well as all the customers, partners, and attendees who made this year’s GDC a great success!