Amazon Game Studios
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Amazon Games chief Mike Frazzini is leaving the company
Amazon Games Studio head and longtime employee Mike Frazzini is stepping down, he announced in a LinkedIn post.
Amazon ditches policy claiming ownership of employees’ personal games
The 'draconian' rules about personal games had been in place for over a decade.
Amazon delays 'New World' MMO again, this time to September 28th
Amazon has delayed New World mere weeks before its previously announced August 31st release date.
‘New World’ trailer shows off gameplay and story beats from Amazon’s upcoming MMO
Amazon Game Studios has released a new trailer for its upcoming New World MMO ahead of the game’s August 31st release date.
Amazon cancels 'Lord of the Rings' game after contract dispute
Amazon has cancelled its 'Lord of the Rings' game after a contract dispute reportedly soured the project.
After another delay, Amazon's 'New World' MMO is coming out on August 31st
After yet another delay, Amazon plans to release its upcoming 'New World' MMO on August 31st, 2021.
Amazon's new CEO plans to 'hang in there' on game development
Incoming Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is reportedly committed to the idea of the company continuing to make games, even as it has yet to release one that is either commercially or critically successful.
‘Crucible’ proves that Amazon is finally serious about video games
Crucible is a promising blend of the MOBA and battle royale genres.
Amazon is co-developing a 'Lord of the Rings' game
Lord of the Rings fans have been patiently waiting for the long-promised Amazon series. While we still don't know when the show will debut or who will star in it, Amazon has more Lord of the Rings news. Today, Amazon Game Studios announced that it's working on a Lord of the Rings massively multiplayer online game.
Amazon Game Studios reportedly lays off dozens in shake-up
Amazon Game Studios has quietly laid off dozens of employees on the last day of E3, one of the biggest video game conferences in the world, according to Kotaku. The company reportedly told affected employees that they only have 60 days to find new positions within Amazon. If they fail to do so within the allotted period, they'll have to leave the company with (thankfully) a severance package in tow. In addition, the studio has also cancelled some of the games it has yet to announce.
Amazon tells Tales From Deep Space on Fire tablets
Tales From Deep Space, from Amazon Game Studios and co-partner Frontier Developments, has achieved lift-off and can now enter the orbit of 2013 Kindle Fire and later tablets, according to a press release from Amazon. The game shoots a spacefaring salesman named E into the depths of space with a helpful robot named CASI. Together, the pair must escape the space station known as "Big Moon." If you and a friend both have a Kindle Fire HDX and/or a Fire 2014 model tablet, one player can control E while the other controls CASI. Tales From Deep Space is one of Amazon's earliest forays into gaming; Amazon Game Studios was founded just two years ago. Since then, they've acquired Killer Instinct developer Double Helix, as well as Portal co-creator Kim Swift and Far Cry 2 lead designer Clint Hocking. [Image: Amazon]
Three fresh games from Amazon Game Studios
AGS is keeping busy following the acquisition of Far Cry 2 Lead Designer Clint Hocking and Portal Co-Creator Kim Swift earlier this year. The studio has three games in development with three different partners: CreepStorm by Happy Tuesday, Tales From Deep Space by Frontier Developments and Til Morning's Light by WayForward. CreepStorm (pictured above) is a tower-defense game with RPG elements and a cartoony gothic vibe made exclusively for Fire Tablets. See a trailer for CreepStorm below. Tales From Deep Space is an eccentric adventure and puzzle game set on a space station also due out exclusively on Fire Tablets. Til Morning's Light, which we covered earlier, is a haunted-house puzzler exclusively for the Fire Phone. [Image: AGS]
Amazon Fire TV lineup trailer has dinosaurs, lasers, and laser dinosaurs
Amazon announced a plethora of development partners when it revealed Amazon Fire TV, its new streaming video and games device. While Mojang's Minecraft got top billing during Amazon's Wednesday presentation, the company's own Amazon Game Studios has plenty in the works as demonstrated by this trailer. For a device Amazon deems "not a game console," Fire TV has some fetching and very traditional looking games in the works based on this teaser. A side-scrolling platformer where you play as a caveman clubbing dinosaurs and then inexplicably disintegrating dinosaurs with a giant laser; a soft-colored world of papercraft woodland animals not dissimilar to Tearaway; and what looks like a turn-based medieval RPG; Amazon Fire TV will cover its genre bases if nothing else. There's even another platformer that looks like some bizarre version of the Jetsons, but you control Ernie from Sesame Street's doppelganger as he shoots aliens. While Ernie Shoots All the Aliens isn't a likely title for Amazon Game Studios' sci-fi platformer, the teaser doesn't provide titles for that game or any of the others in this lineup. It also doesn't say what developers in Amazon's stable are working on what games. Amazon acquired Double Helix, developer of Killer Instinct and Strider, in February. Far Cry 2 and Splinter Cell designer Clint Hocking announced he'd joined Amazon alongside Portal creator Kim Swift on Wednesday as well. The potential talent behind these new games makes them all the more mysterious. Except for the one about dinosaurs. That seems pretty straightforward. [Images: Amazon]
Far Cry 2's Clint Hocking, Portal's Kim Swift join Amazon Game Studios
Portal Co-Creator Kim Swift and Far Cry 2 Lead Designer Clint Hocking have joined Amazon Game Studios. Hocking made the switch in February, according to his LinkedIn profile, following his departure from Valve near the end of 2013. Swift was previously creative director of Airight Games, which launched Soul Fjord exclusively on Ouya in January. Likewise, her profile on LinkedIn now notes her new position at Amazon as Senior Designer. The news follows Amazon's announcement of its Fire TV media streaming device, which is is on sale today for $99. The Fire TV's controller can be purchased separately for $40, and while games on the Android-based machine can support third-party Bluetooth controllers, gaming was deemed a "bonus" feature of the device. Amazon founded the in-house development studio in August 2012 and purchased Killer Instinct developer Double Helix in February. [Image: Clint Hocking]
Amazon reveals game, movie streaming hardware 'Amazon Fire TV' [Update]
Amazon announced Amazon Fire TV today, a device that streams games and movies over the web. The Fire TV features 2 GB of RAM and a dedicated GPU, which Amazon said is the kind "usually found in smartphones." Additionally, Fire TV is based on Android and HTML, so apps are expected to be easy for developers to port to the device. It comes with a TV remote-like controller that includes a microphone on it, which can be used for the device's voice search functions. The Fire TV's separate dual-stick game pad costs $40. The device's UI includes sections for movies, television, apps and photos in addition to games. Among the app icons shown during Amazon's presentation were Twitch, WWE Network, Watch ESPN, Netflix and Hulu Plus. Amazon said it is "starting off with Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Video of course, and we're rolling in other partners over time." As for the games available on Fire TV, the device will host "thousands" from publishers like EA and Ubisoft, and will include Minecraft shortly after it launches. Earlier in March, we got a look at what Amazon's Bluetooth gamepads might look like. The company founded Amazon Game Studios in 2012 and acquired Double Helix, the studio behind Killer Instinct, in February. Update: The Amazon Fire TV will cost $99 and is available to purchase today on Amazon's store.
Amazon Game Studios releases its first mobile game, Air Patriots, for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire
Amazon made its first push into in-house game development this summer with the launch of Amazon Game Studios and its first title, the Facebook-bound Living Classics, and its now made its second big move. The company announced today that its first mobile game, Air Patriots, is now available for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire devices (and free on each, albeit with in-app purchases). Not surprisingly, Amazon has paid particular attention to the Kindle Fire version, taking advantage of GameCircle to track achievements and high scores, as well as Whispersync to let you save your progress on one device and pick up where you left off on another. As for the game itself, Amazon says it's a "new kind of tower defense game," with players drawing a path for the planes to fend off the oncoming tanks. Head on past the break for a quick video. Update: As some commenters have pointed out, while the game supports a variety of Android devices, it looks like the Nexus 7 isn't among them.
Amazon launches its own game studio, goes social with Living Classics on Facebook
Amazon is committing itself to gaming much more seriously than providing a storefront: it just launched its own game development house. The simply titled Amazon Game Studios is starting out gently by producing a Facebook hidden object game, Living Classics, that lets the socially inclined dig around through scenes from well-known literature -- what else would you expect from the Kindle's creator? While the free, me-too game isn't going to give Microsoft or Sony any frights just yet, the company has the ambition of making "innovative, fun and well-crafted" titles. Amazon is actively recruiting more help for the studio as we write, so we'd expect more grandiose work before too long.
Amazon announces 'Amazon Game Studios,' starts with a Facebook game
Amazon's evolving from a digital marketplace into a content creator as well, today announcing its first game development studio – "Amazon Game Studios" – with the launch of its first game, "Living Classics." The company's starting somewhat unremarkably with a hidden object game (which it's dubbing a "moving object game"), and it's ready for you to play on Facebook right now. There's also a trailer for the game above.Per the announcement, the studio is also hiring. And hey, despite our reluctance to play casual games, it's hard to get upset at someone hiring game devs.
