diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 601900a998..5022774324 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,79 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [v1.9.0-rc](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/tree/v1.9.0-rc) (2020-09-22)
+
+[Full Changelog](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/compare/v1.8.0...v1.9.0-rc)
+
+**Breaking changes:**
+
+- Upgrade Kubectl to 1.16.15 [\#1806](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1806) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Upgrade client-go and apimachinery to 0.16.15 [\#1794](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1794) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Update GKE Terraform clusters to 1.16 [\#1772](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1772) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+
+**Implemented enhancements:**
+
+- \[Doc\] add a caveat on setting expiration for cert-manager certificate resources [\#1781](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1781)
+- Helm chart: allow to specify loadBalancerIP [\#1709](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1709)
+- Terraform, Helm module install: Allow gameserver namespaces and port ranges to be specified in terraform [\#1692](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1692)
+- Upgrade to Kubernetes 1.16 [\#1649](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1649)
+- Support using the same port for both TCP/UDP forwarding [\#1523](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1523)
+- Write Tests for Terraform configs [\#1227](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1227)
+- Add player tracking and shutdown to the supertuxkart example server [\#1825](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1825) ([sudermanjr](https://github.com/sudermanjr))
+- Add logging for the client certificate verification [\#1812](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1812) ([pooneh-m](https://github.com/pooneh-m))
+- Troubleshooting - namespace stuck terminating [\#1795](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1795) ([domgreen](https://github.com/domgreen))
+- Add load balancer configuration for Helm options [\#1793](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1793) ([yoshd](https://github.com/yoshd))
+- Added option to hardcode load balancer IP for allocator. [\#1766](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1766) ([devloop0](https://github.com/devloop0))
+- Add TCPUDP protocol [\#1764](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1764) ([Bmandk](https://github.com/Bmandk))
+- Publish to NuGet for Csharp SDK [\#1753](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1753) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Add Terraform example for GKE custom VPC deployment [\#1697](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1697) ([moesy](https://github.com/moesy))
+- Fix Fleets RollingUpdate [\#1626](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1626) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+
+**Fixed bugs:**
+
+- Wrong `Alpha: GetPlayerCount` description in the REST docs [\#1810](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1810)
+- Flaky SDK Conformance Tests [\#1779](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1779)
+- agones-system gets stuck in "Terminating" [\#1778](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1778)
+- Rolling updates should wait for batches to become healthy before iterating [\#1625](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1625)
+- Fix 404 in AWS/EKS documentation [\#1820](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1820) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Pin npm autoprefixer package for site generation [\#1818](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1818) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Docs: Fix rest `GetPlayerCount` description [\#1811](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1811) ([Reousa](https://github.com/Reousa))
+- Flaky: TestControllerGameServersNodeState [\#1805](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1805) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Flaky: TestControllerSyncUnhealthyGameServers [\#1803](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1803) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Make Unreal lambda bindings on the AgonesComponent safe [\#1775](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1775) ([achynes](https://github.com/achynes))
+- Pass port into autoscaler url from webhook policy [\#1765](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1765) ([andrewgrundy](https://github.com/andrewgrundy))
+
+**Closed issues:**
+
+- Unity Game Server Client SDK [\#1809](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1809)
+- Release 1.8.0 [\#1758](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1758)
+
+**Merged pull requests:**
+
+- Corrected gke docs 'release-release' typo [\#1826](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1826) ([eddie-knight](https://github.com/eddie-knight))
+- Remove the warning about the unity SDK not being feature complete. [\#1817](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1817) ([roberthbailey](https://github.com/roberthbailey))
+- Website: Update API docs to Kubernetes 1.16 [\#1814](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1814) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+- Website: Update properly to Kubernetes 1.16 [\#1813](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1813) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+- CI: Wait for tests step before sdk-conformance [\#1808](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1808) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+- Rerun Agones CRD client generation [\#1807](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1807) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- DriveBy - fix link [\#1804](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1804) ([domgreen](https://github.com/domgreen))
+- \[Doc\] Update allocator service & multi-cluster allocation documentation [\#1802](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1802) ([pooneh-m](https://github.com/pooneh-m))
+- Add lock to to sdk-conformance compare\(\) [\#1801](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1801) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- UE4 small nit about float to float comparison [\#1792](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1792) ([domgreen](https://github.com/domgreen))
+- Docs: updating GKE and AKS Kubernetes versions [\#1791](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1791) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+- Docs and TF: Update EKS Kubernetes version to use 1.16 [\#1790](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1790) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+- Docs: updated advised version of Kubernetes to use [\#1789](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1789) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+- Adding aLekSer to approvers list [\#1788](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1788) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+- Examples: update Kubernetes version [\#1787](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1787) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+- Docs: updating Minikube kubernetes version to 1.16 [\#1786](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1786) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+- GolangCI-lint updating version to 1.30 [\#1785](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1785) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+- Doc changes for TLS and loadBalancerIP changes [\#1784](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1784) ([devloop0](https://github.com/devloop0))
+- Add Uninstall instructions when using install.yaml [\#1783](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1783) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+- Added a new 'disableTLS' flag and changed 'disableMTLS' to only disab… [\#1777](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1777) ([devloop0](https://github.com/devloop0))
+- The footnote shouldn't be part of the table. [\#1774](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1774) ([roberthbailey](https://github.com/roberthbailey))
+- Added game-server example [\#1771](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1771) ([Bmandk](https://github.com/Bmandk))
+- Preparation for 1.9.0 [\#1762](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1762) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Add Terraform GKE and Helm modules tests with Terratest [\#1483](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1483) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+
 ## [v1.8.0](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/tree/v1.8.0) (2020-08-18)
 
 [Full Changelog](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/compare/v1.8.0-rc...v1.8.0)
@@ -15,6 +89,7 @@
 
 **Merged pull requests:**
 
+- Release 1.8.0 [\#1760](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1760) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 - Helm default values in docs \(related to controller limits\) match chart default values [\#1755](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1755) ([pgilfillan](https://github.com/pgilfillan))
 - Best practices for game server shutdown [\#1752](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1752) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 - Remove Deployment Manager from build/ [\#1750](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1750) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
@@ -126,6 +201,7 @@
 - Flaky: TestSDKServerWatchGameServerFeatureSDKWatchSendOnExecute [\#1667](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1667) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 - Flaky TestLocal [\#1665](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1665) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 - Add ensure-build-image to test-go Make target [\#1664](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1664) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- $\(ALPHA\_FEATURE\_GATES\) on gcloud-terraform-install [\#1663](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1663) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 
 ## [v1.7.0-rc](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/tree/v1.7.0-rc) (2020-06-30)
 
@@ -186,7 +262,6 @@
 
 **Merged pull requests:**
 
-- $\(ALPHA\_FEATURE\_GATES\) on gcloud-terraform-install [\#1663](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1663) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 - Release 1.7.0-rc [\#1662](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1662) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 - Update Node.js dependencies in sdk and example [\#1657](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1657) ([steven-supersolid](https://github.com/steven-supersolid))
 - Update Agones developer guide to point at faster targets [\#1656](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1656) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
@@ -348,7 +423,6 @@
 - Improved gameserver unit tests [\#1485](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1485) ([akremsa](https://github.com/akremsa))
 - Allocator client tutorial: add steps for MacOS [\#1484](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1484) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
 - Preparation for 1.6.0 Release. [\#1474](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1474) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
-- Update Grafana to the  6.7 release. [\#1465](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1465) ([cyriltovena](https://github.com/cyriltovena))
 - Refactor of localsdk tests [\#1464](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1464) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 - SDK Conformance test - fix parallel recordRequests [\#1456](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1456) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
 - Enhance Logs readability of  SDK Conformance Tests [\#1453](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1453) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
@@ -378,6 +452,7 @@
 
 - Release 1.5.0 [\#1473](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1473) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 - Website: A number of corrections in the docs [\#1466](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1466) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+- Update Grafana to the  6.7 release. [\#1465](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1465) ([cyriltovena](https://github.com/cyriltovena))
 - Website: Fix path in swagger command [\#1462](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1462) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
 - Use go modules for a website and update go version [\#1457](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1457) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
 
@@ -488,6 +563,7 @@
 - Fix for 404 in OpenSSL Install link [\#1374](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1374) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 - Main page, gameserver lifecycle page - typos [\#1369](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1369) ([burningalchemist](https://github.com/burningalchemist))
 - Documented an approach of log levels usage [\#1368](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1368) ([akremsa](https://github.com/akremsa))
+- UE4 readme to communicate development information [\#1360](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1360) ([drichardson](https://github.com/drichardson))
 
 ## [v1.4.0-rc](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/tree/v1.4.0-rc) (2020-02-26)
 
@@ -554,7 +630,6 @@
 **Merged pull requests:**
 
 - Release 1.4.0 Release Candidate [\#1367](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1367) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
-- UE4 readme to communicate development information [\#1360](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1360) ([drichardson](https://github.com/drichardson))
 - Update Feature Stage: New CRD attributes section [\#1355](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1355) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 - Fix Kubernetes terraform provider version [\#1353](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1353) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
 - Update the kind make targets to work with kind 0.6.0 and later. [\#1349](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1349) ([roberthbailey](https://github.com/roberthbailey))
@@ -715,7 +790,6 @@
 - Implementation of Unity SDK.Connect\(\) [\#1181](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1181) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 - Implementation of GameServer\(\) for Unity [\#1169](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1169) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
 - Add Spec and Health data to default local sdk GameServer [\#1166](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1166) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
-- Refresh client CA certificate if changed [\#1145](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1145) ([pooneh-m](https://github.com/pooneh-m))
 
 **Fixed bugs:**
 
@@ -769,6 +843,7 @@
 
 - Document agones-allocator and multi-cluster allocation [\#1155](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1155) ([pooneh-m](https://github.com/pooneh-m))
 - Add SDK.GameServer\(\) to Matchmaking Registration Diagram [\#1149](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1149) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Refresh client CA certificate if changed [\#1145](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1145) ([pooneh-m](https://github.com/pooneh-m))
 - Update the instructions for installing a GKE cluster with terraform to disable automatic node upgrades [\#1141](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1141) ([roberthbailey](https://github.com/roberthbailey))
 
 **Fixed bugs:**
diff --git a/build/includes/examples.mk b/build/includes/examples.mk
index 051b4aa48f..86e29814e8 100644
--- a/build/includes/examples.mk
+++ b/build/includes/examples.mk
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ test-examples-on-gcr: example-image-test.unity-simple
 test-examples-on-gcr: example-image-test.xonotic
 test-examples-on-gcr: example-image-test.crd-client
 test-examples-on-gcr: example-image-test.supertuxkart
+test-examples-on-gcr: example-image-test.simple-game-server
 
 # Test to ensure the example image found in the % folder is on GCR. Fails if it is not.
 example-image-test.%:
diff --git a/docs/governance/templates/release.md b/docs/governance/templates/release.md
index 01d50af5b3..a7e5446bab 100644
--- a/docs/governance/templates/release.md
+++ b/docs/governance/templates/release.md
@@ -21,14 +21,15 @@ Images available with this release:
 - [gcr.io/agones-images/agones-ping:{version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/agones-ping:{version})
 - [gcr.io/agones-images/agones-allocator:{version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/agones-allocator:{version})
 - [gcr.io/agones-images/cpp-simple-server:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/cpp-simple-server:{example-version})
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/crd-client:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/crd-client:{example-version})
 - [gcr.io/agones-images/nodejs-simple-server:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/nodejs-simple-server:{example-version})
 - [gcr.io/agones-images/rust-simple-server:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/rust-simple-server:{example-version})
-- [gcr.io/agones-images/unity-simple-server:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/unity-simple-server:{example-version})
-- [gcr.io/agones-images/udp-server:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/udp-server:{example-version})
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/simple-game-server:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/simple-game-server:{example-version})
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/supertuxkart-example:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/supertuxkart-example:{example-version})
 - [gcr.io/agones-images/tcp-server:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/tcp-server:{example-version})
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/udp-server:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/udp-server:{example-version})
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/unity-simple-server:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/unity-simple-server:{example-version})
 - [gcr.io/agones-images/xonotic-example:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/xonotic-example:{example-version})
-- [gcr.io/agones-images/supertuxkart-example:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/supertuxkart-example:{example-version})
-- [gcr.io/agones-images/crd-client:{example-version}](https://gcr.io/agones-images/crd-client:{example-version})
 
 Helm chart available with this release:
 
diff --git a/install/helm/agones/Chart.yaml b/install/helm/agones/Chart.yaml
index 4525daa940..e0422c7720 100644
--- a/install/helm/agones/Chart.yaml
+++ b/install/helm/agones/Chart.yaml
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
 # Declare variables to be passed into your templates.
 
 apiVersion: v1
-appVersion: "1.9.0-dev"
-version: 1.9.0-dev
+appVersion: "1.9.0-rc"
+version: 1.9.0-rc
 name: agones
 description: a library for hosting, running and scaling dedicated game servers on Kubernetes.
 keywords:
diff --git a/install/helm/agones/values.yaml b/install/helm/agones/values.yaml
index cc56084df6..92b07247a2 100644
--- a/install/helm/agones/values.yaml
+++ b/install/helm/agones/values.yaml
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ agones:
     disableTLS: false
   image:
     registry: gcr.io/agones-images
-    tag: 1.9.0-dev
+    tag: 1.9.0-rc
     controller:
       name: agones-controller
       pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
diff --git a/install/yaml/install.yaml b/install/yaml/install.yaml
index ab5bab1d63..1d03e63fc3 100644
--- a/install/yaml/install.yaml
+++ b/install/yaml/install.yaml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: agones-system
   labels:
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 ---
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: agones-system
   labels:
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 ---
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: default
   labels:
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 ---
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: agones-system
   labels:
     app: agones-manual
-    chart: "agones-1.9.0-dev"
+    chart: "agones-1.9.0-rc"
     release: "agones-manual"
     heritage: "Helm"
 type: Opaque
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: agones-system
   labels:
     app: agones-manual
-    chart: "agones-1.9.0-dev"
+    chart: "agones-1.9.0-rc"
     release: "agones-manual"
     heritage: "Helm"
 data:
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: agones-system
   labels:
     app: agones-manual
-    chart: "agones-1.9.0-dev"
+    chart: "agones-1.9.0-rc"
     release: "agones-manual"
     heritage: "Helm"
 data:
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: agones-system
   labels:
     app: agones-manual
-    chart: "agones-1.9.0-dev"
+    chart: "agones-1.9.0-rc"
     release: "agones-manual"
     heritage: "Helm"
 data:
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     component: crd
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 spec:
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     component: crd
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 spec:
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     component: crd
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 spec:
@@ -670,7 +670,7 @@ metadata:
     controller-tools.k8s.io: "1.0"
     component: crd
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
   name: gameserverallocationpolicies.multicluster.agones.dev
@@ -765,7 +765,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     component: crd
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 spec:
@@ -983,7 +983,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: agones-system
   labels:
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 rules:
@@ -1014,7 +1014,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: agones-system
   labels:
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 rules:
@@ -1060,7 +1060,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: agones-system
   labels:
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 rules:
@@ -1080,7 +1080,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: agones-system
   labels:
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 subjects:
@@ -1100,7 +1100,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: agones-system
   labels:
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 subjects:
@@ -1152,7 +1152,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: default
   labels:
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 subjects:
@@ -1173,7 +1173,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     component: ping
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 spec:
@@ -1195,7 +1195,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     component: ping
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 spec:
@@ -1231,7 +1231,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     agones.dev/role: controller
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 spec:
@@ -1267,7 +1267,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     component: allocator
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 spec:
@@ -1303,7 +1303,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     component: controller
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 spec:
@@ -1346,7 +1346,7 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: agones-controller
       containers:
       - name: agones-controller
-        image: "gcr.io/agones-images/agones-controller:1.9.0-dev"
+        image: "gcr.io/agones-images/agones-controller:1.9.0-rc"
         imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
         env:
         # minimum port that can be exposed to GameServer traffic
@@ -1356,7 +1356,7 @@ spec:
         - name: MAX_PORT
           value: "8000"
         - name: SIDECAR_IMAGE # overwrite the GameServer sidecar image that is used
-          value: "gcr.io/agones-images/agones-sdk:1.9.0-dev"
+          value: "gcr.io/agones-images/agones-sdk:1.9.0-rc"
         - name: ALWAYS_PULL_SIDECAR # set the sidecar imagePullPolicy to Always
           value: "false"
         - name: SIDECAR_CPU_REQUEST
@@ -1445,7 +1445,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     component: ping
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 spec:
@@ -1480,7 +1480,7 @@ spec:
       priorityClassName: agones-system
       containers:
         - name: agones-ping
-          image: "gcr.io/agones-images/agones-ping:1.9.0-dev"
+          image: "gcr.io/agones-images/agones-ping:1.9.0-rc"
           imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
           livenessProbe:
             httpGet:
@@ -1554,7 +1554,7 @@ spec:
           secretName: allocator-client-ca
       containers:
       - name: agones-allocator
-        image: "gcr.io/agones-images/agones-allocator:1.9.0-dev"
+        image: "gcr.io/agones-images/agones-allocator:1.9.0-rc"
         imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
@@ -1612,7 +1612,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     component: controller
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 spec:
@@ -1651,7 +1651,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     component: controller
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 webhooks:
@@ -1691,7 +1691,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     component: controller
     app: agones
-    chart: agones-1.9.0-dev
+    chart: agones-1.9.0-rc
     release: agones-manual
     heritage: Helm
 webhooks:
diff --git a/sdks/csharp/sdk/AgonesSDK.nuspec b/sdks/csharp/sdk/AgonesSDK.nuspec
index b2872f7615..7b8f0ac921 100644
--- a/sdks/csharp/sdk/AgonesSDK.nuspec
+++ b/sdks/csharp/sdk/AgonesSDK.nuspec
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 <package >
   <metadata>
     <id>AgonesSDK</id>
-    <version>1.9.0-dev</version>
+    <version>1.9.0-rc</version>
     <authors>Google LLC</authors>
     <owners>Google LLC</owners>
     <requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
diff --git a/sdks/csharp/sdk/csharp-sdk.csproj b/sdks/csharp/sdk/csharp-sdk.csproj
index 784b02f639..bdf7650a3a 100644
--- a/sdks/csharp/sdk/csharp-sdk.csproj
+++ b/sdks/csharp/sdk/csharp-sdk.csproj
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
     <PackageProjectUrl>https://agones.dev</PackageProjectUrl>
     <PackageLicenseUrl>http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0</PackageLicenseUrl>
     <AssemblyName>AgonesSDK</AssemblyName>
-    <Version>1.9.0-dev</Version>
+    <Version>1.9.0-rc</Version>
     <PackageTags>agones, googleforgames, kuberenetes, multiplayer, gameservers</PackageTags>
     <Company>agones.dev</Company>
     <Configurations>Debug;Release;DebugProtoGen</Configurations>
diff --git a/sdks/nodejs/package.json b/sdks/nodejs/package.json
index c42f05b519..ff91a4f56d 100644
--- a/sdks/nodejs/package.json
+++ b/sdks/nodejs/package.json
@@ -27,5 +27,5 @@
     "publishConfig": {
         "access": "public"
     },
-    "version": "1.9.0-dev"
+    "version": "1.9.0-rc"
 }
diff --git a/site/content/en/blog/releases/1.8.0.md b/site/content/en/blog/releases/1.8.0.md
index da538e8dc9..650735097b 100755
--- a/site/content/en/blog/releases/1.8.0.md
+++ b/site/content/en/blog/releases/1.8.0.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ more functionality.
 
 We also see more SDKs supporting the alpha Player Tracking functionality as well.
 
-Check the <a href="https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/tree/release-1.8.0" data-proofer-ignore>README</a> for details on features, installation and usage.
+Check the <a href="https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/tree/release-1.8.0" >README</a> for details on features, installation and usage.
 
 **Breaking changes:**
 
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Check the <a href="https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/tree/release-1.8.0"
 - Added new gen-install-alpha command [\#1673](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1673) ([akremsa](https://github.com/akremsa))
 - Alpha SDK and example for Node.js \(Player tracking\) [\#1658](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1658) ([steven-supersolid](https://github.com/steven-supersolid))
 
-See <a href="https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/release-1.8.0/CHANGELOG.md" data-proofer-ignore>CHANGELOG</a> for more details on changes.
+See <a href="https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/release-1.8.0/CHANGELOG.md" >CHANGELOG</a> for more details on changes.
 
 Images available with this release:
 
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ Images available with this release:
 
 Helm chart available with this release:
 
-- <a href="https://agones.dev/chart/stable/agones-1.8.0.tgz" data-proofer-ignore>
+- <a href="https://agones.dev/chart/stable/agones-1.8.0.tgz" >
   <code>helm install agones/agones --version 1.8.0</code></a>
 
 > Make sure to add our stable helm repository using `helm repo add agones https://agones.dev/chart/stable`
diff --git a/site/content/en/blog/releases/1.9.0-rc.md b/site/content/en/blog/releases/1.9.0-rc.md
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..2f257f1782
--- /dev/null
+++ b/site/content/en/blog/releases/1.9.0-rc.md
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+---
+title: "1.9.0 Release Candidate"
+linkTitle: "1.9.0-rc"
+date: "2020-09-22"
+---
+
+This is the 1.9.0-rc release of Agones.
+
+**Note:** In this release we are upgrading the supported Kubernetes version to 1.16, so please make sure to upgrade your clusters.
+
+Check the <a href="https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/tree/release-1.9.0-rc" data-proofer-ignore>README</a> for details on features, installation and usage.
+
+**Breaking changes:**
+
+- Upgrade Kubectl to 1.16.15 [\#1806](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1806) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Upgrade client-go and apimachinery to 0.16.15 [\#1794](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1794) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Update GKE Terraform clusters to 1.16 [\#1772](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1772) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Upgrade to Kubernetes 1.16 [\#1649](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1649)
+
+**Implemented enhancements:**
+
+- \[Doc\] add a caveat on setting expiration for cert-manager certificate resources [\#1781](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1781)
+- Helm chart: allow to specify loadBalancerIP [\#1709](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1709)
+- Terraform, Helm module install: Allow gameserver namespaces and port ranges to be specified in terraform [\#1692](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1692)
+- Support using the same port for both TCP/UDP forwarding [\#1523](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1523)
+- Write Tests for Terraform configs [\#1227](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues/1227)
+- Add player tracking and shutdown to the supertuxkart example server [\#1825](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1825) ([sudermanjr](https://github.com/sudermanjr))
+- Add logging for the client certificate verification [\#1812](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1812) ([pooneh-m](https://github.com/pooneh-m))
+- Troubleshooting - namespace stuck terminating [\#1795](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1795) ([domgreen](https://github.com/domgreen))
+- Add load balancer configuration for Helm options [\#1793](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1793) ([yoshd](https://github.com/yoshd))
+- Added option to hardcode load balancer IP for allocator. [\#1766](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1766) ([devloop0](https://github.com/devloop0))
+- Add TCPUDP protocol [\#1764](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1764) ([Bmandk](https://github.com/Bmandk))
+- Publish to NuGet for Csharp SDK [\#1753](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1753) ([markmandel](https://github.com/markmandel))
+- Add Terraform example for GKE custom VPC deployment [\#1697](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1697) ([moesy](https://github.com/moesy))
+- Fix Fleets RollingUpdate [\#1626](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pull/1626) ([aLekSer](https://github.com/aLekSer))
+
+Documentation: https://development.agones.dev/site/
+
+See <a href="https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/release-1.9.0-rc/CHANGELOG.md" data-proofer-ignore>CHANGELOG</a> for more details on changes.
+
+Images available with this release:
+
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/agones-controller:1.9.0-rc](https://gcr.io/agones-images/agones-controller:1.9.0-rc)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/agones-sdk:1.9.0-rc](https://gcr.io/agones-images/agones-sdk:1.9.0-rc)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/agones-ping:1.9.0-rc](https://gcr.io/agones-images/agones-ping:1.9.0-rc)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/agones-allocator:1.9.0-rc](https://gcr.io/agones-images/agones-allocator:1.9.0-rc)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/cpp-simple-server:0.13](https://gcr.io/agones-images/cpp-simple-server:0.13)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/crd-client:0.3](https://gcr.io/agones-images/crd-client:0.3)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/nodejs-simple-server:0.5](https://gcr.io/agones-images/nodejs-simple-server:0.5)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/rust-simple-server:0.8](https://gcr.io/agones-images/rust-simple-server:0.8)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/simple-game-server:0.1](https://gcr.io/agones-images/simple-game-server:0.1)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/supertuxkart-example:0.3](https://gcr.io/agones-images/supertuxkart-example:0.3)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/tcp-server:0.4](https://gcr.io/agones-images/tcp-server:0.4)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/udp-server:0.21](https://gcr.io/agones-images/udp-server:0.21)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/unity-simple-server:0.3](https://gcr.io/agones-images/unity-simple-server:0.3)
+- [gcr.io/agones-images/xonotic-example:0.8](https://gcr.io/agones-images/xonotic-example:0.8)
+
+Helm chart available with this release:
+
+- <a href="https://agones.dev/chart/stable/agones-1.9.0-rc.tgz" data-proofer-ignore>
+  <code>helm install agones/agones --version 1.9.0-rc</code></a>
+
+> Make sure to add our stable helm repository using `helm repo add agones https://agones.dev/chart/stable`