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Install and configure the Unity Gaming Services Software Development Kit plug-in for Unreal Engine.

Read time 2 minutes

Last updated 2 months ago

Important

Unity Matchmaker will support Multiplay Hosting until the deprecation date of March 31st, 2026. To aid your migration away from Multiplay Hosting, migration examples for alternative hosting providers are available. Matchmaker will continue to work with Relay and Distributed Authority after the Multiplay Hosting deprecation.

Use the following instructions to learn how to install and configure the Unity Gaming Services SDK plug-in. After you’ve installed and configured the Unity Gaming Services SDK for your project, you can use C++ or Blueprints for Unity Matchmaker.

What's included

The Unity Gaming Services SDK includes three of Unity’s services built into one plugin:

Understand the requirements

The Matchmaker SDK plug-in for Unreal Engine supports the Unreal Engine versions 4.27 to 5.3.

Warning

Currently, the Unity Matchmaker only supports matchmaking players into dedicated servers hosted using Unity Multiplay Hosting. Multiplay Hosting may incur costs. For pricing details, see Pricing.

Warning

Unity Matchmaker uses a protocol called Centrifuge to handle events on the server. This is contained in the plugin module

MatchmakerServer

. Centrifuge is not supported on non-PC platforms. Exclude the

MatchmakerServer

module from Client builds using Multiple Game Modules and

TargetAllowList

in the

.uproject

file.

Download the Matchmaker SDK

From the Unreal Engine Marketplace website

Sign in to the Unreal Engine Marketplace.
Access the Unity Gaming Services SDK for Unreal Engine Marketplace page.
Select Open in Launcher.
Skip to Step 4 in From the Epic Games Launcher.

From the Epic Games Launcher

Sign in to your Epic Games Launcher.
Search for Unity Gaming Services SDK for Unreal Engine in your Epic Games Launcher.
Access the Unity Gaming Services SDK for Unreal Engine page and select Free.
Select Install to Engine in your Epic Games Launcher.
Open a new project or an existing one.
Navigate to the Plugins window and check the box next to the Unity Gaming Services SDK for Unreal Engine.
Restart Unreal Engine.

Note

If you use a version of the engine built from sources then you can access your Marketplace folder by doing the following:

If you're using Windows, then the default path is:
```
C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.3\Engine\Plugins\Marketplace
```
. MacOS and Linux also have similar paths.
Copy the
```
UnityGamingServicesSDK
```
folder into your project
```
Plugins
```
folder. If it doesn't exist yet, create it at the root of your project.

Configure the Matchmaker SDK

Unity Matchmaker relies on the Unity Authentication service, which is included in the Unity Gaming Services SDK. Before you start calling the Matchmaker APIs and start allocating players using the Matchmaker, configure your Unity Matchmaker settings on the Unity Dashboard. Otherwise, all matchmaking requests fail. Unity Matchmaker requires a minimum of one queue with a default pool.

Configure backfill

Backfill enables you to place players into an existing match that’s below the maximum player count. See backfill documentation to learn more. Before using backfill, ensure you enable backfill on the Unity Dashboard for your queue.

Visit the Unity Dashboard and select your project.
Go to the Multiplayer tab.
Go to the Matchmaker tab and select Queues.
Select your Queue. See Create Pools and Queues.
Go to the Pools tab and select the Pool to use within the Queue.
Go to the Rules tab, find the field for Backfill enabled, and make sure it’s set to True.

What's next ?

Proceed with either integrations:

Documentation

Engine

Services

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Matchmaker for the Unreal Engine

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