Amazon Has a Gaming Studio

I was searching for things to write about and tonight was kind of a dry night when it comes to PC gaming. However, I thought this was interesting. Apparently Amazon has a gaming studio called Amazon Game Studios, and they just announced three games at Twitchcon 2016. They announced three games, one of which is a first person shooter that was talked about back in June last year.

Amazon purchased Twitch in 2014 for $970 million and they plan to make the most of it. Amazon Game Studios VP Mike Frazzini said he wanted to know what it would mean to build games for Twitch. Basically they're creating games with the Twitch viewer aspect in mind. Interesting idea. But will it actually be fun to play?

"The most obvious bid for the esports market is Breakaway, a 4v4 "mythological sports brawler" hybrid. It's not quite Rocket League: the game is a class-based, hero-centric combat game first and foremost. You can see a match in action here, and registrations for the alpha are currently open." (PC GAMER)

"Meanwhile, Crucible is a third-person shooter where 12 players fight (or shoot) for survival on an alien planet, with cooperation seemingly mandatory for survival. The game will also feature a 13th player who can influence the game – or grief the participants – in a role resembling a game master." (PC GAMER)

Then there's New World, a massive multiplayer open world sandbox game set in 17th century colonial America. The era's supernatural beliefs will be real in the game so its not entirely realistic. "The full presentation is here, or if you want to watch the entire Amazon Game Studios event, here you go." (PC GAMER)

I'm a huge Amazon consumer and love their streaming as well as mailing services for products. I don't even buy shoes, socks, or underwear from real stores anymore. I just go through Amazon. The fact that they're entering the gaming market is no surprise. It will be interesting to see if any of these games see some great intense esports fame. They certainly sound like fun games but it takes more than just building a game for Twitch to create a great game. Quite frankly most of the games people stream on Twitch aren't that fun for me to watch, which makes me not want to play them-even if they are great games.

I will probably check out some of these games and find out for myself if they are fun. Until then I'll be using Amazon to order my next pair of boxer briefs.

Side note-enjoy the One Piece Overwatch crossover fan art I saw on Kotaku, it's hella cool!