Overview

GameFlow is a multiplayer infrastructure platform for games. It lets you deploy dedicated game servers around the world, run matchmaking, and rate players by skill, without operating the infrastructure yourself.

What GameFlow offers

• Server Hosting: Deploy your game servers to regions around the world and scale them with player demand. Ping endpoints in every region help you connect players to the server with the lowest latency, and every server has DDoS protection.
• Matchmaking: Set up how players are grouped into matches from the GameFlow UI. Works for any competitive game.
• Skill Rating: Measure player skill with ready-made rating models, so players compete against others at their level.

How GameFlow works

GameFlow supports three ways to get players onto a dedicated server. Pick the one that fits your game.

Matchmaking

Players click "find a match" and GameFlow decides who plays with whom.

1. A player asks your game backend to find a match.
2. Your game backend creates a matchmaking ticket with the player's preferred region (see Finding the Best Region). It holds the API key, so the client never sees it.
3. If you attached a skill rating model, the matchmaker uses each player's rating to group compatible tickets.
4. When a match forms, GameFlow allocates a dedicated server in the region the tickets asked for.
5. Your game backend gets the server's address and port.
6. Your game backend forwards the connection details to the players.
7. Players connect straight to the game server and play.
8. When the match ends, your game backend reports the result, and GameFlow updates each player's rating.

Learn more

Visit Matchmaking and Skill Rating to learn more.

Direct connection

Your game backend starts a server and hands players its address. Fits lobbies and parties where the backend already knows who plays together. The Getting Started tutorial walks through the same flow from the dashboard.

1. Your game backend starts a server with a single API call. Pass the region and, optionally, a launch payload.
2. GameFlow deploys the server in that region.
3. The server connects through the Game Server SDK and reports that it's ready.
4. GameFlow returns the server's address and port.
5. Your game backend shares the connection details with players.
6. Players connect straight to the game server and play.

Learn more

Visit Custom Game Backend to learn more.

Server browsing

Players pick a server from a list, the classic way to play community and arena games.

1. Each running server reports players joining and leaving through the Game Server SDK, so counts stay current.
2. A player opens the server browser in your game.
3. Your game backend asks GameFlow for the game's running servers.
4. GameFlow returns each server's address, port, region, and current player count.
5. Your game backend shows the list in the game, and the player picks a server.
6. The player connects straight to that server and plays.

Learn more

Visit List game servers and Player Tracking to learn more.

FAQ

Does GameFlow replace my game backend?

No. GameFlow handles the hardest parts of multiplayer: rating players, matching them, and running game servers worldwide at scale.

For everything else, like authentication, profiles, progression, and inventory, GameFlow works alongside your backend. It integrates with Nakama, Talo, and Supabase, which already do that job well and get you running fast. You can also bring your own backend.

Why not run everything on my game backend?

Most game backend features are now straightforward to build. Managed services cover the common pieces, and AI tools can write much of the remaining code. A game backend can also run from a single region. With replication and global acceleration, a few extra milliseconds on a request aren't noticeable.

Game servers are different. Latency directly affects gameplay, so servers need to run close to players, in many regions at once, with a way to send each player to the right one. Running this means keeping capacity available in every region, handling traffic peaks, and replacing servers that fail. That operational work is the hard part, and it's what GameFlow does best.

Which game engines does GameFlow support?

GameFlow runs any game server that can be built for Linux and packaged as a container, so it works with most engines, including custom ones.

To connect your server to GameFlow, use one of our SDKs:

• Godot: available as an addon.
• Unity: available as a Unity package.
• Unreal: available as a plugin.

Using a different engine? Use the TypeScript, Go, or Rust SDK, or contact us at team@gameflow.gg.

Does GameFlow work for non-competitive games?

Yes. Server hosting works for any game that uses dedicated servers: co-op, survival, party games, or sessions that run for hours. Matchmaking can also group players for co-op modes, not just competitive ones.

Skill rating is the one part designed mainly for competitive games. If your game doesn't rank players, you can skip it and use only hosting and matchmaking.