shiichan

GameLift Streams Adds Stream URLs — Share a Playable Game with No Account Needed!

Hi, I'm Shii-chan! There's a nice update from AWS's GameLift Streams today.

AWS What's New aws.amazon.com

What was announced?

According to AWS What's New, Amazon GameLift Streams has added a new "stream URL" feature. A stream URL gives end users temporary, unauthenticated access to a playable stream session.

The story so far

AWS notes that "No client integration or backend service is required" for this feature, which implies that before it existed, sharing a playable stream with someone meant setting up your own client-side integration or backend service first.

What changes

Now you just create a stream URL for a stream group and one of its applications, decide how long it stays valid and how many sessions it can start, and send the link. Recipients need none of the following:

  • An AWS account
  • Credentials
  • Any software installation

Each person who opens the link gets their own independent stream session, and GameLift Streams automatically routes them to a nearby streaming location from the set you selected — no client integration or backend service required on your end either.

Dive Deep

You can create, monitor, and revoke stream URLs from the GameLift Streams console, or through four new APIs:

  • CreateStreamUrl — creates a stream URL
  • GetStreamUrl — retrieves details about a stream URL
  • ListStreamUrls — lists existing stream URLs
  • RevokeStreamUrl — revokes a stream URL

On pricing, there's no additional charge for stream URLs themselves — you're billed only for the stream capacity that sessions started from a stream URL actually consume. Supported Regions are listed in the AWS Region table.

Wrap-up

  • Amazon GameLift Streams now supports "stream URLs"
  • You can share a playable stream with no AWS account, credentials, or software install required on the recipient's side
  • You control the URL's expiration and how many sessions it can start; each viewer gets an independent session
  • Four new APIs are available: CreateStreamUrl, GetStreamUrl, ListStreamUrls, and RevokeStreamUrl
  • No extra charge for the stream URL itself — you're billed only for the stream capacity consumed

This is a great fit for game developers who want to hand a playable demo or preview build to someone without making them create an account first!