Amazon has recently posted a message on the gaming website Gamasutra, where it announced it is hiring game developers.
The largest internet based retailer in the U.S. Amazon has recently announced it is going to produce its first PC game.
The company already has a development team comprised of game development architects, selected from experienced staff formerly employed at competitor PC production companies.
Amazon is not new to the gaming field however, the company bought Twitch recently and has already launched games for mobile devices.
Twitch is the most used platform for video game live-streaming. It is also used in many E-sports competitions , gaming related charity events and a lot of players upload their playthroughs. The average viewer numbers per month in 2013 was 43 million.
Amazon bought the company in September 2014 for 970 million dollars. At the time of the transaction Twich.TV was only 3 years old , being launched in June 2011.
But Amazon did not stop here, in 2014 it also bought Double Helix Games, a company based in Irvine California.
When Crytek was collapsing financially Amazon also negotiated the sale of Crytek’s main product CryEngine. CryEngine is a video game tool popular with videogame creators and fans alike.
So it is expected that with a very popular game engine like CryEngine, and teams of experienced developers Amazon has all the chances of releasing a game, that will be at least pretty if not commendable.
The large majority of Amazon Game Studios product are available on Amazon Appstore exclusively. Mobile games developed by the company have been neither a resounding success or a fluke, but if the company is serious in it’s efforts to develop a PC game, the calculated stakes must be much higher.
Not only do the costs rise, but players expect immensely more complex storyline and originality. PC games success relies on multiple factors, and they all are taken seriously by gamers. Some do not even play a game if they think the graphics are weak, while others stay away from purchasing such products if the quality of detail in the story and character development is not absorbing and intriguing.
Some of the most known developers in the Amazon team include Kim Swift (Portal) and Clint Hocking (Far Cry 3).
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