Use your own domain

Serve a game from an address your fans recognise, such as play.myclub.com, as well as its own Gamestage address. You add a CNAME and a TXT record; Gamestage issues the certificate, renews it, and checks the records for you.

$ gamestage domain add club-quiz play.myclub.com
Added play.myclub.com to club-quiz.
Create the records shown where you manage DNS for myclub.com:
  CNAME  play  ->  domains.gamestage.ai
  TXT  _gamestage.play  ->  gamestage-verify=3ef6a274-29bd-49b8-920c-51a9a7bb105d
Then run: gamestage domain status club-quiz --watch

Custom domains come with the Publisher plan, which includes one, and with Enterprise by contract. On Starter a game keeps its own address, https://<game id>.apps.gamestage.ai.

Add a domain

1. In Stage, open the game, then Settings, then Custom domain. Or run gamestage domain add <game> <hostname>.
2. Create both records shown: the CNAME and the TXT at _gamestage.<hostname>, where your domain's DNS is managed. If somebody else manages it, Copy instructions gives you a message to send them.
3. Leave the panel open, or run gamestage domain status <game> --watch. The records are usually found within minutes of being added, and the certificate follows a few minutes later.

The game's Gamestage address keeps working throughout and afterwards.

These values show the shape for play.myclub.com. Copy your own TXT value from Stage or the CLI, because each claim gets a new token. Some DNS hosts ask for the short name; others ask for the full name.

Keep the TXT record in place after your domain is live. It is checked again whenever Gamestage starts serving the hostname, including when you claim it again. Removing and adding the domain gives you a new token, even in the same workspace, so replace the old TXT value with the new one.

If your CNAME is right but the TXT is missing or has the wrong value, Stage stays at Waiting for DNS and names _gamestage.play.myclub.com as the missing TXT record. Add the value shown, then press Check now. The CLI also prints the TXT reason and both records; run gamestage domain status club-quiz --watch to check again. After 72 hours the status becomes Failed and Stage offers Try again.

Subdomains only. A CNAME cannot sit on a domain's own name, so myclub.com itself cannot point at Gamestage yet. Use play.myclub.com or www.myclub.com.

CAA records. If your domain has CAA records, add one allowing amazon.com, because the certificate is issued by Amazon. Without it the certificate fails and the panel says so.

What each status means

A domain Gamestage was already serving, or issuing a certificate for, before 21 October 2026, when the TXT record was introduced, keeps working without one. If you remove it and claim it again, add the TXT value shown for the new claim.

Move or remove a domain

Publisher includes one domain per workspace, on one game. To put it on another game, open that game's panel and press Move it here, or run gamestage domain add <game> <hostname> --move. Moving the same hostname keeps its certificate and token within your workspace.

Remove domain, or gamestage domain remove <game>, stops serving the game at that address straight away. Fans on it stop reaching the game; its own address keeps working.

Reference

Every command takes --json.