FAQ

Common questions about AMP.

How does AMP compare to AWS FlexMatch?

FlexMatch is fast, mature, and tightly integrated with AWS GameLift. AMP differs in three ways:

1. On-chain settlement. FlexMatch has no settlement primitive — AMP ships escrow + verifier attestation by default.
2. Self-hostable, no cloud lock-in. AMP is Apache-2.0; run it on any cloud, bare metal, or peer-to-peer.
3. Embeddable matchmaking library. amp-match-core drops into your existing game server without taking over the whole network stack.

FlexMatch is ahead today on party/squad matchmaking, cross-region placement, and backfill policies. The v0.2 / v0.3 milestones on the Roadmap close those gaps. See the Roadmap → Comparisons section for the full breakdown.

How does AMP compare to Open Match?

Open Match is a matchmaking framework (also open source) that leaves matchmaking logic to the user. AMP ships an opinionated rating + rule engine out of the box — closer to FlexMatch in scope — plus the on-chain settlement layer Open Match doesn't have.

What can AMP do today?

The open beta ships:

• 1v1 matchmaking with Glicko-2 ratings and composable rules.
• EIP-191 challenge-response auth + EIP-712 outcome signing.
• Custodial escrow with verifier-attested payouts on Avalanche Fuji.
• Six SDKs (Rust, Go, C++, C#, Python, JS) all with CI-verified tests.
• An embeddable matchmaking library (amp-match-core) for studios that want the algorithm without the service.

Read the Beta Guide to play your first match in five minutes.

What's coming next?

Team / squad matchmaking, N-player free-for-all, backfill policies, cross-region placement, and the path to Avalanche C-Chain mainnet. See the Roadmap.

What engines are supported?

We provide SDKs for C++ (Unreal), C# (Unity/Godot), Go, Python, Rust, and JavaScript/TypeScript. The C++ and C# SDKs bundle Keccak-256 for outcome-digest computation, so the crypto path works out of the box. See the SDK Overview for the full matrix.

How does authentication work?

AMP uses a challenge-response flow: the server issues a time-bound nonce, the client signs it with their wallet, and the server verifies the signature. This replaces static token auth and prevents replay attacks.

Does AMP provide anti-cheat?

AMP provides verifiable anti-cheat. Because the protocol has the match transcript, the ASYNC_VERIFIER can catch many common cheats (speed hacks, wall hacks) by re-simulating the game logic. AMP is not a replacement for traditional client-side anti-cheat (Easy Anti-Cheat, BattlEye) which prevents memory manipulation on the local machine.

What are the settlement modes?

Two modes:

• ASYNC_VERIFIER: the verifier processes the match transcript and signs an attestation. The relayer submits it on-chain. Maximum security, immune to client collusion.
• RT_HASH_AGREE: both clients independently calculate the final state hash and submit it. Agreement auto-settles; disagreement enters dispute resolution by a designated arbiter. Lower latency, lower gas, requires deterministic clients.

See Architecture for details.

What happens if a match expires?

Expired matches refund all staked funds to the players. OPEN/READY matches expire after the configured match timeout. DISPUTED matches require 3x the timeout before expiry.

Can players cancel a match?

Yes. Player A can cancel an OPEN match (before player B joins) and receive a full refund. Once player B joins, the match moves to READY and cannot be cancelled.

What stake tokens are supported?

Both native AVAX and any ERC-20 token. The game admin specifies the stake token during game registration. Fee-on-transfer tokens are supported (payouts use the actual received amount).

Is AMP limited to Avalanche?

Today, yes — settlement is on Avalanche (Fuji testnet now, C-Chain mainnet per the Roadmap). The core matchmaking logic in amp-match-core is chain-agnostic and embeddable anywhere.

Can someone fork AMP?

Yes. AMP is Apache-2.0. The protocol's value lies in the verifier network, the trust ecosystem around the shared settlement contracts, and the developer community — all of which compound on a shared deployment rather than forks.

What's the long-term vision?

Scale from today's 1v1 wagered play to large-team formats, battle royales, and persistent-world territorial control — all settled on Avalanche. The protocol's separation of matchmaking (off-chain, fast) from settlement (on-chain, verifiable) is what makes that range possible. See Roadmap → Long-term vision.